


Fractured Paths

by Arrysa



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Ciaossu!, Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-09-24 20:43:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9785363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arrysa/pseuds/Arrysa
Summary: There is a way to break strong men and Reborn, the World Greatest Hitman, is a strong man. With this, Reborn watches his world crumble right in front of his eyes and his own version of hell started with one seemingly harmless word. "Ciaossu!"





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> **Betaed:** by **_Pure Red Crane_**

**Chapter One**

"Ciaossu!" a sudden squeaky voice rang loudly through the hallway. Tsuna slowly lifted his head to see where the voice was coming from. He saw an infant wearing black shoes, pants, suit, and a red dress shirt with a blue neck tie. There was a yellow pacifier around the infant's neck and a black fedora with an orange strip on the black haired baby's head. Upon seeing an infant wearing something so professional, Tsuna gaped. Questions immediately appeared in his mind, like why was there an infant in his home wearing such un-baby like clothes.

"So you're Tsuna?" Tsuna immediately knew that it wasn't a question because the baby was looking at him as if he merely made it a question for formality sake. There was some emotion behind that gaze that the brunet couldn't identify. That observation made him immediately sit up from lying on the floor. He gulped down nervously, averting his gaze from the infant, "Y-Yeah I'm Tsuna."

"Oh, where did you come from, little boy?" The voice of Tsuna's mother brought him back and he slowly looked in the infant's direction.

"I'm the home tutor, Reborn." the infant said, his right hand holding out a business card with the _Home Tutor, Reborn_ written on it.

There was silence after that and before Tsuna knew it, he was laughing with his mother. _'I was getting uncomfortable over nothing! He's just a baby playing a game.'_ With that laughter, all his worries about the infant vanished and he started looking at the infant in front of him with hilarity in his eyes. The laughter died when Tsuna suddenly felt an impact on his head before his face was planted to the floor.

"Ow…my face." Tsuna muttered. The suffering brunet heard his mother ask if he was alright and reminded him that he was going to be late if he didn't hurry up. Tsuna immediately shot up with panic in his eyes.

"I'm going to be late!"

With that sentence, Tsuna conveniently forgot the existence of the infant with the yellow pacifier. He only remembered when he was walking on his way to school. The brunet felt a weight on his shoulder. He shrieked loudly when that happened and the infant, Reborn, landed on the pavement. Tsuna pointed accusingly at the infant.

"When did you-?"

Tsuna was interrupted when he heard a yowling on his left. The brunet shifted his attention to it and saw that he had stepped on the Chihuahua's tail. He stared dumbly and shrieked when he noticed that the Chihuahua wasn't leashed. His savior came to his rescue in the form of the black-clad fedora wearer. Reborn walked in front of the Chihuahua and petted the little hellion on the head until it stopped yowling and growling, the sounds replaced by delightful barking. Tsuna could only marvel at how an infant managed to make the Chihuahua adore him.

"You're a loser who panics easily in crisis." Reborn turned to him after petting the Chihuahua's head. Tsuna stared at the infant with a minor hint of annoyance from those words. "Looks like I'll have to beat that habit out of you." Reborn added in afterthought.

Tsuna blinked rather dumbly. _'He's weird.'_ he concluded on his mind, then averted his gaze when he saw someone walking towards them.

"How cute!" Sasagawa Kyoko, the school idol of Namimori Middle School, gushed at the infant.

Tsuna watched the exchange with slight disinterest, his attention solely focused on his crush. He could feel his cheeks heating up a bit at the mere sight of the smile on Kyoko's face as she talked delightfully with the infant. But someone interrupted his daydreaming when another person walked in.

"Is he your younger brother?" Tsuna immediately waved his hand in denial.

"No. He's not."

"Why are you wearing a suit?" Kyoko asked. Tsuna gazed back at Reborn, wanting to hear the answer as well.

"Because I'm in the Mafia." Tsuna didn't expect that answer and it showed on his face, mouth open and an incredulous expression on his face. Reborn must be lying. Kyoko clapped her hand in delight with a completely enamored look on her face.

"Wow. That's so cool!" It seemed that Kyoko was merely indulging Reborn, but it didn't stop the brunet from shooting a jealous look at Reborn's head.

Kyoko and the other girl waved their goodbyes, Reborn returning the gesture. Meanwhile, Tsuna watched as Kyoko walked away. It would have been nice if he could talk with his crush, but he didn't even have any guts to start a conversation with her. The brunet didn't even try to talk to her with Reborn. He was too busy looking at her with love-struck eyes. Just how was he supposed to initiate a conversation with her when he couldn't even look at her without blushing?

"You have a crush on that girl, don't you?" Reborn suddenly asked, interrupting Tsuna's thoughts. The brunet blushed in embarrassment for being caught ogling on his crush, but then he looked at Reborn with an indignant look on his face. The infant called Kyoko _that girl_ like she was some kind of random girl among the crowd. Reborn didn't know who Kyoko really was and he felt compelled to explain it on the unknowing infant.

" _That girl_ is Sasagawa Kyoko, she's the idol of my middle school, and my feelings towards her shouldn't concern you!"

"As your home tutor I should know about all of your relationships with other people." Reborn said with a…fond smile on his face, but Tsuna could feel a deadpanned quality to it. It made the brunet think that Reborn was belittling his feelings.

"Whatever. Just leave me alone already." Tsuna said with an indignant look and voice, crouching down to Reborn's level. He saw Reborn reach for his fist.

"I won't." Reborn said with a promising smile on his face. Tsuna stared at the infant's hand incomprehensibly. The next thing he knew, Reborn had twisted his arm on his back.

"Ow, that hurts!" Tsuna yelled in distress. Reborn was on his back, still not letting go of his arm.

"Let go already!" the brunet yelled, but it remained unheard. The brunet could feel the pain burning on his arm.

"Ow! Let go, please!" Tsuna pleaded in distress for the third time, and just like the saying, third times the charm. The evil baby let go of his deadly grip and Tsuna immediately sagged in relief.

"That's not normal strength for a baby…" he concluded after cradling his most likely bruised arm.

"As I told you before, I'm a hitman." Reborn said. The brunet turned to face the kid with an angry huff on his face.

"You didn't say you are a hitman." Tsuna said with a confused voice, but he added the more pressing matter after another huff and to negate Reborn's statement. "Please don't joke around! There is no way you're a hitman. You're an infant! That's impossible."

"Have you confessed to Sasagawa Kyoko yet?" Reborn asked. With that sudden question, their previous conversation was buried at the back of Tsuna's mind. Tsuna's eyes widened in embarrassment and a blush formed on his cheeks.

"D-Don't talk stupid…"

"Why?" Reborn asked curiously. Tsuna immediately looked away. There was just no way could he talk about his crush without blushing, unable to look anyone in the eye.

"I told you already, Kyoko-chan is the school's idol. There's no way she would even consider me." he said in a rather sullen voice.

"You're average test score is 17.5. You can't even spin on the horizontal bar. You always trip, even on empty air. You don't have any friends. Your mother calls you dame. In fact, everyone does because you're a useless, Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna nodded in agreement. The last two accounts was a direct assault on his heart, but he reluctantly nodded. It was the painful truth. Then a frown formed on his face. How did this baby know those last two things about him?

"Why do you know so much about me!?" Tsuna asked in a raised voice.

"Your eyes tell me everything." Reborn answered normally, holding onto a magnifying glass, peering at Tsuna with it.

"That makes no sense!" the brunet said in annoyance. He stood up.

"Anyway, just leave me alone. Well…if I could go out with such a cute girl, I could die happy." He looked down, staring at nothing. "I already know that even if I do confess, it's just a waste of time."

"That's a strong loser complex."

"I told you to stop already."

"Looks like it's this time already." Reborn said suddenly, making Tsuna shoot a confused look towards him. That was a weird sentence. It didn't make any sense, not like what Reborn said usually made any sense anyway. The brunet shot an incredulous look when suddenly the magnifying glass in Reborn's hand glowed and turned into...a chameleon.

"…What?" Tsuna stared at the green chameleon with wide panicked eyes.

"Die now." Reborn said. At the same time, the chameleon glowed once again, turning into…a green gun? Tsuna stared at the transformed gun with his mouth hanging agape. The brunet took a startled step back.

"What?!"

"You'll understand if you die." Reborn pointed the green gun towards Tsuna, encouraging the brunet to take another step back.

"W-What are y-?!" Before Tsuna could complete that sentence and run away, there was a bang and he felt pain on his forehead. Slowly, but surely, the brunet felt his heavy body fall to the pavement with a thud. Tsuna idly wondered if there was blood on his forehead, but he didn't know. But his regret started to surface in his mind…

' _What a waste…I could have confessed to Kyoko-chan if I had the dying will.'_

The next thing Tsuna knew, he had jumped onto his feet and yelled in a loud voice, "Reborn! I'm going to confess to Sasagawa Kyoko with my dying will!"

"Where's Sasagawa Kyoko!?" And with that, the brunet roared loudly and began running to find Kyoko with the single thought of confessing, not caring about anything else at the moment.

When Tsuna came back to his normal self, he was lying on the pavement near the school gate wearing only his boxer. He didn't register the latter because he was filled with thoughts of what he had done in his sudden bout of insanity.

"Oh no," Tsuna slowly sat up from the pavement where he had landed after being hit by Mochida. With a hand on his hair, the brunet gripped at it while feeling the slowly burning humiliation of what he had just did. "I just confessed in front of everyone…" He then saw that he was wearing his blue shorts and panicked. He closed his eyes shut as he gripped his hair tightly. "I totally look like some kind of pervert."

"What happened to me?" Tsuna murmured in distress and confusion.

"It's thanks to the Dying Will Bullet."

Right then and there, Tsuna learned that what he had done was because he was shot by Reborn with the Dying Will Bullet. And because of Reborn, the brunet would be forced to face the humiliation of confessing to Kyoko with only his shorts.

Right now, all Tsuna could do was blame all of his humiliation on Reborn, that evil baby.

" _Ciaossu!"_

" _So you're Tsuna?"_

" _Starting today I'll be looking after you."_

" _Don't worry, Dame-Tsuna."_

" _Gathering information is a basic skill, Tsuna."_

" _I'm the home tutor, Reborn."_

" _You're a loser who panics easily in crisis. You're the sole middle-schooler on this Earth who's afraid of Chihuahuas."_

" _I'm a hitman."_

" _Because I'm in the Mafia."_

" _Tsuna, you have a crush on that girl, don't you?"_

" _As your home tutor, I should know_ _of your relationships with other people_ _."_

" _It won't go that easily."_

" _As I told you before, I'm a hitman."_

" _Have you confessed to Sasagawa Kyoko yet?"_

" _Why?"_

" _You're average test score is 17.5. You can only go up to the third level on the vaulting horse. You can't even spin on the horizontal bar. Is it because you're Dame-Tsuna?"_

" _Your eyes tell me everything."_

" _That's a strong loser complex."_

" _Looks like it's finally time. Die now. You'll understand if you die."_

"I'm the Vongola Family's tenth generation boss?!" Tsuna said in panic. He was currently sitting cross-legged on his bedroom floor, a foldable table in front of him, with Reborn on the other side. Reborn looked at him with a smile on his face. The brunet was slowly getting used to the fact that when Reborn smiled, it was anything but pleasant for him.

"Me!?" Tsuna yelled for clarification. There was just no way he, Dame-Tsuna, could be a Mafia boss. There was just no way. Reborn was pulling a fast one on him and it was working. Before Tsuna could even utter more denial, Reborn explained.

"I came here because I was requested by the current Vongola Family boss, the ninth, to train you to become an admirable Mafia boss."

"I don't get it!" Tsuna yelled back in panic. "What are you even talking about?!" The brunet was about to huff, but a piece of paper was presented near his face. He looked at it with confusion then curiosity.

The yellowish paper had _Vongola Family_ written at the near top. Everything was written in English and it looked like some kind of hierarchy chart.

"The Vongola Family's first boss retired and crossed Japan. He's your great, great, great grandfather. In other words, you inherited the Vongola blood and you are the only legitimate candidate to become the next boss."

Tsuna listened to Reborn's explanation while looking over the paper in deep concentration, or tried to. He could see English words and names, but they didn't mean anything to him. When Reborn was finished with his explanation, the brunet peered at the hitman. "I've never heard about this…"

Reborn said with a smile on his face. That didn't bode well for the brunet. "Don't worry, Tsuna. I'll train you and you'll become a great Mafia boss."

With that statement, Tsuna's shoulders sagged, not with relief, but with fear. He caught a silent promise in Reborn's eyes and he couldn't help but think that his normal life was over.

"Why are you deciding everything by yourself?" Tsuna muttered in annoyance and walked towards Reborn, who had decided to lie on his bed. "And don't sleep on my bed!" he yelled but Reborn, the evil baby, didn't listen to what he said.

"It's sleepy time. See you tomorrow." Reborn declared. Tsuna reached for Reborn, planning to shake him away from his bed. However, a sudden bubble coming from Reborn's nose appeared, followed by the baby's snores, made him stop. The brunet stared with wide bewildered eyes as Reborn slept with eyes wide opened…

"He's sleeping with his eyes open!"

' _That's creepy!'_ he cried out in his mind. "And it's still so early! Do you only sleep at baby time!?" Of course, there was no answer. Tsuna sulked in the corner. Today was so weird, and all because of the arrival of an evil infant.

" _I came here because I was requested by the current Vongola boss, the ninth, to train you to become an admirable Mafia boss."_

" _The Vongola family's first boss retired and crossed to Japan. He's your great, great, great grandfather. In other words, since you inherited the Vongola blood, you are a legitimate candidate to become the next boss."_

" _Don't worry. I'll train you to become a great Mafia boss."_

" _It's sleepy time. See you tomorrow."_

" _I forgot to tell you, if you try to disturb my sleep, those booby traps will blow up."_

"If some trash like you becomes the tenth, the Vongola family is done for." Gokudera Hayato said in a serious voice. He was still glaring at Tsuna. The brunet started to wonder why the silver haired boy seemed to hate him. He didn't do anything wrong to the other.

"W-Why do you know about the family?" Tsuna exclaimed with a worried frown on his face. Tsuna was nervous. Ever since Gokudera transferred into his class this morning, all the silver haired boy did was glare at him. It was unnerving.

"You're annoying." Gokudera said with a scowl on his face. Suddenly, there was…dynamite in the silverete's hands.

"This is your end." Tsuna stared at the dynamite. He could feel the panic sinking on his bones.

"That was faster than I'd expected." a familiar squeaky voice said. Tsuna was about to turn to find where the voice was coming from when he felt that Reborn hop onto his head, so he didn't.

"Gokudera Hayato, you're early." Reborn spoke with familiarity. Tsuna was shocked. How did Reborn know his new classmate?

"Y-You know him?" he asked.

"Yup. He's a family member that I called over from Italy." Reborn answered simply.

"You're in the Mafia, Gokudera-kun!?" Tsuna shot a bewildered look to Gokudera's direction. But the silver haired boy ignored him and stared at Reborn with a serious look on his face. "So you're the hitman that the ninth has the most trust in, Reborn. I've heard rumors about you."

Tsuna stared at Gokudera, processing the new information about Reborn. He idly wondered if what Gokudera said was true. How could a baby like Reborn manage to achieve such trust?

"It better be true that I'll become the tenth if I get rid of this guy." Gokudera started, making Tsuna's eyes widen at the obvious lie.

"W-What are you sa-?" Tsuna was about to ask for clarification, not quite believing what he was hearing, but Reborn interrupted him.

"It's true."

Tsuna immediately looked up at Reborn. He couldn't believe that Reborn lied to him, but if it was really true, then that meant…Gokudera could be the Mafia boss?

"Can you even do that? Was it a lie that I'm going to be the tenth?" Tsuna asked, a little hint of hope in his voice. There might be chance that he wouldn't need to be a Mafia boss.

"Then fight." Reborn said. It wasn't even an answer to Tsuna's question, but the thought of fighting…Tsuna looked startled by it. The brunet didn't know how to fight. There was no way Dame-Tsuna could fight someone.

"F-Fight? Y-You're kidding. I-I can't fight against a Mafia guy!" Tsuna shot an uncomfortable and frightened look in Gokudera's direction. Before Tsuna could even dash away, Reborn grabbed a fistful of his hair. The brunet immediately cried out in pain, stopping in his tracks. "Ow, ow, ow!"

How Reborn knew that he would run was lost to him, but it didn't matter when Reborn uttered in a low dangerous voice.

"Fight like your life depends on it, Tsuna."

That voice made Tsuna protest jam on his throat. He gave a frightened look towards the hitman atop his head. Surprisingly, Reborn was still smiling, but it was a dangerous smile that made him realize that, baby or not, this must be why Reborn _is_ a hitman. Tsuna gulped down nervously. He could feel Reborn untangling his hand from his hair, yet despite being free, he didn't run away.

"Reborn…" The brunet murmured with a little hint of fear. And just like that, Reborn's dangerous smile disappeared. The hitman patted his hair before he jumped away from his student's head. Despite that small, somewhat reassuring, gesture, he couldn't help but remember that Reborn was dangerous. Slowly, yet surely, he started to feel fear _of_ Reborn.

Tsuna immediately shook his head to get rid of his thoughts to no avail. He stared at Gokudera who was still holding onto his dynamites and cigarettes on his mouth.

When Gokudera lit his dynamite and threw at the brunet, Tsuna shrieked and dashed away. He didn't want to be hit by the explosives. Where did those things come from anyway? The brunet continued dashing away as Gokudera kept throwing dynamites after him. All Tsuna could do was ran away like a little coward and shriek along the way.

Gokudera kept throwing dynamites, until he could no longer see clearly from all the dust clouds he made.

"Somebody save me!" Tsuna yelled in panic, his hands over his head for cover. The terrified brunet continued dashing without any direction, just so long as it was away from Gokudera's dynamites. He continued running like his life depended on it.

_("Fight like your life depends on it, Tsuna.")_

That sudden flashback made Tsuna abruptly stop without conscious thought. Dynamite was thrown in front of him. When he caught sight of it, with eyes wide with panic, Tsuna turned on his heels towards Gokudera's direction, running towards the other. Gokudera would surely stop throwing dynamite at him if he got too close, Tsuna concluded.

By the next second, Tsuna saw many dynamites thrown above him. He stared at the explosives in panic and with a wild beating heart. The brunet darted around, trying to get away and find any escape. What he saw when he turned in the direction of a tree was Reborn holding onto his green gun.

Tsuna saw it in a slow motion, staring as Reborn lifted his gun and something he could never identify flashed in Reborn's beady black and bottomless eyes. Then the brunet heard a loud explosion that shook him to his very core in a tight painful hold.

Finally, darkness claimed him.

" _That was faster than I'd expected, Gokudera Hayato."_

" _Yup, he's a family member that I called over from Italy."_

" _It's our first time meeting though."_

" _Yup, it's true."_

" _If you don't want to lose, fight."_


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

"That team would be useless." someone uttered and everyone looked to the source of the voice. There they saw Mukuro, sitting on the floor, holding onto a gun and pointing the weapon in their direction. "Because there will be no survivors." Mukuro added, prompting Gokudera to immediately stand in front of him, shielding Tsuna and muttering a curse under his breath.

"Let's meet again." Mukuro moved the gun he was holding, pointing it to his head. Gokudera and Tsuna let out a bewildered gasp with hint of confusion. Tsuna didn't know what was going on, but he gasped in growing horror when Mukuro smiled that same creepy smile even with the gun pointed at his own temple.

"Arrivederci." Those uttered words of Mukuro were followed by a bang. Tsuna could only gasp when Mukuro pulled the trigger against his temple. He watched as Mukuro's body fell downward with a resounding thud against the floor.

"Why… did he do it?" Tsuna asked hoarsely as he stayed rooted, looking at the now dead body of his once nemesis.

"Tsuna." Reborn said in warning and, almost at the exact time, Tsuna's eyes went wide as he suddenly felt a growing unease in the pit of his stomach. _'What is this feeling?'_ He stared unseeing at the lifeless body of Mukuro. The thought of watching someone commit suicide right in front of his eyes filled him with horror, but this current feeling…it was the feeling of something going horribly wrong. It was the first he had felt something as terrifying as this.

Tsuna shivered as he felt the temperature of the room go cold, his fingertips slowly turning blue. He heard someone talking, probably Gokudera, but the brunet couldn't register the sound, merely a garble of mishmash words that he couldn't understand. Tsuna looked at the dead body in front of him. He couldn't stop feeling that something would go horribly wrong.

"Reborn," he whispered uneasily. Tsuna slowly turned to look at Reborn's standing form.

"Something is wrong." Tsuna stated in half-panic and half-worry. Reborn turned to him, and then at the dead body of Mukuro with a passive look in his eyes. The brunet idly wondered why Reborn was looking at Mukuro's body in speculation. If Tsuna were to throw a wild guess, he would think that Reborn was waiting for the dead body to suddenly revive. That ridiculous thought somehow managed to ease his growing feeling of wrongness.

Tsuna turned to where Gokudera was standing, but found that the other was gone. Instead, his friend was walking towards the sitting Bianchi. Tsuna's feeling of wrongness returned once again when he saw where Gokudera was heading. However, that feeling confused him. Gokudera was only going to help his sister, nothing more, nothing else, so why was his heart beating so fast?

"Gokudera-kun, stay away!" Tsuna's eyes widened in confusion. _'Ah…What?'_

"What am I saying?" Tsuna muttered with confusion as he looked again at Gokudera's direction.

"Don't worry, Jyuudaime. I can handle this." Gokudera reassured, but the brunet wasn't calmed. In fact, it was the opposite. He felt that Gokudera was walking into a trap, but that sense of wrongness was slowly getting familiar...Almost as if…

Tsuna's eyes widened in shock as Bianchi suddenly attacked Gokudera-kun, her own brother, with a trident. The brunet looked at them with alarm. _'Something is wrong…Bianchi wouldn't attack her brother!'_ His feeling of wrongness suddenly dimmed. He could even feel it in his bones.

"What's going on?" Tsuna muttered confusedly as he stared at Bianchi, who was looking at her hands, lost in confusion. Reborn hopped towards Bianchi, tapping his small chubby hand on Bianchi's forehead.

"Get a hold of yourself, Bianchi." Reborn then landed in front of Bianchi after that. "You just tried to skewer your little brother." Reborn continued with a deadpanned voice. However Tsuna could detect a hint of knowing on that voice.

Bianchi looked apologetic and she opened her mouth, probably to apologize. "I…" Bianchi paused as she looked down at Reborn, and then continued with a hurt look on her face. "What a terrible thing I did!" And with that, Bianchi attacked Reborn with her trident. Reborn dodged rather easily, having already gotten away even before Bianchi made a motion to attack him.

"Reborn!" Tsuna called out worriedly for his tutor. Reborn hopped upward and then landed in front of Tsuna. Tsuna sighed in relief. His tutor was not injured from Bianchi's attack.

"This is troublesome." Reborn said after landing rather gracefully. There was a displeased quality on his voice. Tsuna could identify it as clear as day.

Gokudera didn't try to get up from his sitting position as he inquired. "Is it mind control?"

"No. She's possessed." Reborn answered in a matter of fact tone. Tsuna stilled at that.

"Is…" Tsuna was going to ask if it was really possible, but the horrible feeling of wrongness grew even stronger, making him close his mouth shut with apprehension.

"What are you saying?" Bianchi said in her normal playful voice. Tsuna looked at her. He could feel wrongness on his bones, but sometimes the wrongness also dimmed and it greatly confused him. It made him doubt if what Reborn was saying was really true. But…

' _That's not Bianchi…'_ the brunet thought slowly as he stayed rooted in his spot. His thought was between believing and doubting Reborn's words, but his gut feelings told him to believe. But Bianchi looked normal, she acted like herself...Tsuna shook his head. _'That's not Bianchi.'_ he thought strongly and his doubt in Reborn's words dimmed and his gut cried out. _'I've felt this odd feeling before.'_ he realized. With this, his eyes went wide and he gasped rather loudly.

"Rokudo…Mukuro." Tsuna said slowly in a disbelieving tone. His eyes remained rooted at Bianchi's form. Bianchi stood up and let out the same creepy smile Mukuro would make. And as she stood up, Tsuna could see that Bianchi's right eye had the same red color as Mukuro's.

"We meet again." Bianchi – no Mukuro – stated. Tsuna shrieked in alarm, his eyes wide like a saucer. He could feel himself growing pale by the second. "He's back!"

"It's a curse!" Gokudera shrieked at the same time. Both of the startled young teens looked at the newly discovered Mukuro possessing Bianchi's body with wide eyes.

"It's possible, Tsuna." Reborn said. Tsuna wondered why Reborn didn't refute his statement, but it dissolved to the back of his mind because Mukuro was back and possessing Bianchi. That was more important, though he couldn't completely believe that because Mukuro was already dead.

Bianchi let out a creepy laugh, the same one Mukuro had used before. "I still have something to do. I've returned from hell."

He could only look at _Mukuro_ in growing horror as he took a step backward. Meanwhile, Gokudera stared at his possessed sister with determination in his eyes. "Jyuudaime, let me handle this." Even though Tsuna wanted to refuse Gokudera's request, his friend had already stood up and made…ridiculous slashing movements in front of him like what an onmyouji would do to evil spirits. "Rin! Hyo! To! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu!"

Tsuna watched in utter bewilderment as Gokudera continued his exorcism. He sweat dropped, not believing that would really work in this situation. Tsuna idly wondered where Gokudera learned this before shooting that thought away when Bianchi made a sort of gagging sound.

"It's actually working?!" Tsuna could only stare incredulously at the sight of Bianchi desperately trying to breathe normally. Seconds later, Bianchi fell to her knees, unclutching the trident and letting it fall away from her.

"Bianchi!" Tsuna called out worriedly for the older woman. He walked towards her worriedly, planning to check her out.

"What happened?" Tsuna asked. No one deigned to answer his question. Tsuna crouched down and was about to see if Bianchi was alright when he felt something oddly wrong and it was coming from…Gokudera's direction.

"Tsuna!" Reborn said in warning. Tsuna turned and saw Gokudera attacking him with the trident. Tsuna dodged and landed on his butt next to Reborn.

"Reborn! Gokudera-kun's been…" Tsuna started in panic. Reborn placated his panicking student with a kick to the cheek. "What was that for?!" He didn't receive an answer because he immediately whipped his head to look in Gokudera's direction when his friend made a Mukuro-like sound of 'Oya'.

"So it wasn't luck." Tsuna saw Gokudera's red right eye and the similar creepy smile. "You're the first to realize that I've possessed someone after one glance." Gokudera, who was currently being possessed by Mukuro, voiced in an amused tone of praise. "You are amusing to no end."

"Though your tutor seemed to know too." Mukuro gave his tutor a questioning look. And before Tsuna could ask what Mukuro was talking about, Reborn spoke.

"You used that bullet, didn't you?" Reborn asked in a serious and…dangerous tone. Despite panicking, Tsuna could still notice that Reborn's voice was indicating otherwise. It wasn't a question at all, but a statement, as if merely stating a fact he already knew. Tsuna looked at his tutor with more question on his face.

' _What bullet?'_

Mukuro was looking at Reborn with a serious look on his face.

Tsuna easily saw that, despite standing still and face closed off, Reborn was angry, if his voice was any indication. Though he couldn't help but feel that there was something not right about Reborn's voice. It was merely a gut feeling.

Mukuro in Gokudera's body laughed that same creepy laugh.

"So you knew that this is caused by a special bullet?" Tsuna's eyes widened before turning to Reborn in confusion.

"Special bullet? You mean like the Dying Will Bullet?"

"That's right. Mukuro used the Possession Bullet. As its names implies, that bullet allows you to take control of another person's body." Tsuna's eyebrows furrowed in distress as the explanation went. That kind of effect was even worse than mind control.

"That's why Bianchi and Gokudera-kun have been…"

"It was a special bullet created by the Estraneo Family. Not only do you need a strong spirit, but you must also be suited for the bullet." Reborn said. Mukuro merely laughed in correspondence.

"It suits me just fine."

"This is nothing like mind control. I don't control them; I take them over. Which means that this body is mine." Mukuro said with that same creepy smile, raising his hand and using his nails to make a scratch across the throat on Gokudera's body.

When Tsuna saw what Mukuro was doing to Gokudera's body, the brunet yelled in worry, "Stop that!"

Mukuro merely laughed and Tsuna closed his eyes at not being able to stop someone from hurting his friend. "Now, I'll possess you next, Vongola Tenth."

"Me?!" Tsuna' exclaimed, eyes widened in alarm as he pointed at himself.

"I knew it. Your goal is to…"

"It is not my goal! It is my means. My revenge can only begin after taking control of a young Mafia boss." Tsuna could only move backward with fear.

"What are you saying?" Mukuro laughed again as he walked towards the afraid brunet.

"No! Possessing me would be useless! Nothing would come of it!" Tsuna yelled as he moved his hand on top his head for cover.

"Be careful of his weapon." Reborn warned. Tsuna opened his eyes to look at the trident Gokudera was currently holding. "If you're wounded by that trident, he'll be able to possess you." Mukuro laughed and looked at the infant.

"I'm impressed that you know." Mukuro moved forward as if to attack Tsuna, but instead he threw his trident at Tsuna's back. When Gokudera suddenly fell, Tsuna looked at his fallen friend with confusion. _'Huh?'_

"Exactly." Bianchi's sudden voice startled the brunet. Tsuna turned to her and noticed that next to her was Hibari. His eyes widened at that. _'No…'_

"But I call this ritual a contract." Mukuro, through Bianchi, explained and crouched down. The trident made contact with Hibari's cheek, drawing a small speck of blood. Tsuna gasped at that and Bianchi fell next to Hibari, the trident falling from her grasp with a clinking sound. Tsuna saw Hibari slowly get up and his eyes widened.

"He couldn't have…gotten inside Hibari-san too!" he murmured to himself. Hibari stood up shakily and then made a move forward to attack the brunet with his metal tonfas. Next thing Tsuna knew, Mukuro had hit him on the right cheek. Tsuna fell to the floor at the impact and he could hear that Hibari fell as well.

"Oya. This body isn't of much use." Mukuro muttered through Hibari's body, trying to stand up but unable to. "Fighting in a body like this… what a fearsome man, Hibari Kyoya is." The sentence was followed by a thud when Hibari's body fell on the floor. Tsuna immediately walked towards Hibari's fallen form with a worried look on his face. He also noticed something different.

"Mukuro's presence is gone."

"Be careful. He'll possess either Gokudera or Bianchi." Reborn warned, but Tsuna could hear a deadpanned quality to it and he shrieked in panic at the thought of Mukuro possessing his friends again.

"That's terrible!"

When Gokudera made a move to stand up, Tsuna gazed at his friend, hoping that his friend would be back to normal this time. A second later, Bianchi made a move to stand up and Tsuna shifted his attention to her, wishing that she was back to her normal self. Of course, it was a lost cause because he immediately saw the sign that Mukuro was inside his friends, both of them at the same time. He could only look back and forth between them as he made a disbelieving look. Tsuna should have expected something improbable to happen. "Two at the same time?"

"That's not all." Tsuna turned to look at a sudden disturbance at the door and he paled at what he saw. "There is them too." Reborn stated. Tsuna looked in abject horror as two of Mukuro's companions came in sporting the same red eye.

Tsuna shrieked in panic at the thought that they were going to face four Mukuro's. One Mukuro was already enough on his plate, now there are four of them. The brunet couldn't help feeling helpless about their current situation.

"Possessing four people at once..." Reborn commented, mildly intrigued.

"That's not all." Gokudera threw a handful of dynamites up in the air and all Tsuna could do was run away in panic.

"He can use the abilities of those he possesses as well." Reborn commented after making an observation. Mukuro used Gokudera's body naturally to throw dynamites around like the bomber's normal self would, and with deadly accuracy too.

Reborn immediately sensed that Mukuro would attack him as well and he dodged one of the attacks made by the one enemy named Ken.

"You should worry about your own life, Arcobaleno." Reborn dodged the incoming attack from the yoyo user with his black suit. The hitman lamented in the fact that his precious suit became a shield and promised himself to buy a new one later on. Mukuro continued his attack with dynamites so that all Tsuna could do was to take cover as he grew more terrified.

"The second path, path of the hungry ghost, is the skill used to steal the enemy's abilities." Mukuro explained as he continued laughing.

"This is really bad." Reborn commented. Tsuna couldn't even find it in himself to be indignant. Reborn didn't need to say it out loud. He could see just fine how bad their situation was. "He possessed them and he can use the skill's he's stolen." Reborn summarized and Tsuna idly wondered if Reborn was doing it to make him understand.

Tsuna then felt a sudden heat from his right and when he turned, noticing that magma was coming out of the floor. He shrieked in panic. It was hot. He was going to be toasted alive.

"Save me!" he yelled, not knowing what to do. His friends were against him. He couldn't fight against his friends. Surely, Reborn would do something!

"If possible, I'd like to take you without harming you." He heard Mukuro speak, but he was far gone to his terror to think about that devil's words.

Tsuna's hands were on his head as he protected himself from the sudden heat encompassing him. His eyes were closed tight. "I can't take any more of this!"

"You haven't learned a thing." Reborn commented. Tsuna could hear that Reborn was saying it with a disappointed look on his face. "This is an illusion." Reborn jumped towards Gokudera, and Mukuro took this chance.

"Oh my, you'd better worry about yourself!" The mafia hater flung several dynamites while Reborn was mid-air.

When the dynamites exploded, Tsuna could only gasp worriedly, "Reborn!"

"That shouldn't have killed you, Arcobaleno." Mukuro voiced through Bianchi. From the smoke after the explosion, Reborn suddenly came out of it. Mukuro seized this chance and, with the trident in Ken's hand, made a move to skewer Reborn with it.

"Found you!" Tsuna could only watch with mouth agape.

Mukuro sported a triumphant look on his face at the thought of finally having the Arcobaleno in his possession. He looked a bit shocked when he only managed to stab the fedora. Reborn, with fast lightning skill, took his fedora from Mukuro's trident before landing on the floor in a graceful movement. Tsuna could only look at Reborn with a relieved look on his face.

"I can't help." The brunet could see that Reborn looked apologetic at that moment, despite Reborn still having that cool expression in place. "Tsuna, do something quickly."

"Don't be unreasonable!"

Mukuro started his attack again, using Gokudera's body to throw dynamites in the brunet's direction, making the short boy immediately stand up, hands hugging his head in defense, and then ran away from the explosion.

"This is beyond what I can handle!" Tsuna yelled in the midst of the explosion. He couldn't possibly do something about this. He was Dame-Tsuna. There was no way he could stop Mukuro from this madness. Despite his protest, Reborn continued, even while dodging several attacks from the yoyo guy.

"If you're my student, you can overcome this." Reborn was looking at Tsuna with an indifferent face, but his eyes told a different story.

"It's unfair to use irrational logic like that!" Tsuna retorted, avoiding another explosion. He was a bit happy that Reborn believed him to be capable of overcoming this, but seriously there was just no way he could fix this.

"Your teacher is panicking." Mukuro commented after letting out his creepy laugh. Reborn turned to look at the currently possessed Bianchi with a knowing look on his face. "He's falling into chaos over his student's crisis." Bianchi approached, her hands holding onto poisonous cakes. Reborn dodged those attacks rather easily.

"I'm not lying. Tsuna will overcome this." Reborn stated rather strongly, and then looked at Tsuna's direction. "Your brother, Dino, overcame it too."

At those words, Tsuna stopped running, turning to Reborn in question. He was curious. Why Dino was being mentioned now of all times? "Dino-san?"

"When Dino was my student, he faced a life or death situation. He overcame it and transformed himself. No longer was he the weakling Dino. He became the Bucking Bronco Dino." Reborn explained. Tsuna stood in confusion.

"Became? I don't get it!"

Tsuna didn't know how Dino became the Bucking Bronco. The blond had always been a cool person, though he usually was useless without subordinates. But Dino was Dino and Tsuna was Dame-Tsuna.

"Dino-san and I are-" _'aren't the same._ ' Before he could finish his sentence, Reborn interfered.

"Above you." Tsuna took one look above him and saw several dynamites. When they exploded, he was flung to the floor and landed on his butt. He gasped in pain.

"That's enough talk. Let's bring this to an end." Mukuro made his way to Tsuna, trident in hand. But before he could attack Tsuna with it, the yoyo-user, Chikusa, fell to his knees with a thud. Tsuna looked at the fallen sight of the yoyo-user and turned to Mukuro.

"It happens sometimes. Even if I take over someone's body, when that body breaks, there's nothing I can do." Mukuro stated with an air of indifference. Tsuna stared wide eyed at that revelation.

"You're forcing them to move even with their horrible wounds?" Tsuna couldn't help but shook a little at that.

"That's why Mukuro didn't possess Hibari." Reborn stated. Mukuro laughed through the fallen body. The weak body was trying to stand up, despite how vulnerable he looked.

"Chikusa can go a little further." Mukuro evaluated.

"If you force him, his wounds will-" Before Tsuna could finish his sentence, Mukuro chuckled.

"I'm fine. I don't feel pain."

With that statement, Tsuna felt anger course through his veins, "Isn't that your friend's body?!"

"That's incorrect. Once I possess them, it's my body. It's my right to decide whether it breaks or dies."

Tsuna stared in ghastly horror at those statements. He shook, not with fear, but on how wrong it felt to him. To think that Mukuro was this heartless to his comrades… "That's wrong."

"Do you have time to be concerned about others when you're about to be killed?" Mukuro said using Bianchi's body. Tsuna averted his gaze from the yoyo-user to Bianchi and Gokudera, who was approaching him and was immediately drawn to the sight of blood blossoming from their wounds.

"You're an amusing man. You're not suited for the Mafia." Mukuro commented. Despite wanting to agree that he didn't want to be in the Mafia, Tsuna was revolted at the thought that he could only watch helplessly as his friend's body was being used for Mukuro's amusement.

Tsuna didn't want to think about what would happen to his friends if those injuries got any worse. Tsuna didn't want his friends to get hurt anymore.

"Please stop this! They'll die!" the brunet yelled with eyes filled with helplessness.

Mukuro merely laughed at his begging and that didn't seat well with the brunet. However, he didn't have time for that. Any more and those wounds would endanger Bianchi and Gokudera.

"I remember now. When you were fighting Birds, you were about to stab yourself to save your girlfriend." Mukuro stated in self-discovery. Tsuna had a bad feeling about where this was going.

"Let's do it that way. Because of your softness, you will be possessed by me." Mukuro started, "Listen well. If you don't want any further harm done to your friends, make a contract with me without trying to run away." Tsuna gulped down.

"N-No way…" The brunet's words were in disbelief and disagreement, but the later was weak against his ears. A part of him believed that his life wasn't important.

"So you do hesitate. In the end, a person like you can't survive in this kind of world. You're not suited to be Vongola Jyuudaime." Mukuro said using Ken's body. Tsuna noticed that Ken was the one holding the trident. Tsuna wanted to refute that he didn't want to be the Vongola Jyuudaime. He didn't even want to be in the Mafia, but he was too afraid to speak up. "Now give me your body."

"What should I do?" Tsuna muttered to himself as he grew paler by the second. He turned to Reborn pleadingly. "What should I do, Reborn?!" Reborn shook his head.

"I can't do anything for you. You must pull it off on your own." Tsuna felt worse by every second, he felt like actually crying because Reborn wouldn't help him.

"That's horrible!" Tsuna sniffed rather loudly. "You always helped me out!" The brunet's voice was layered with plea, begging for Reborn's help inside. He would do anything to see his friends safe. "Don't abandon me, Reborn!" Tsuna said in slight hysteria. In response, Reborn kicked him, making the brunet fall to the cold, hard floor.

"I would never abandon you, Tsuna." Reborn almost hissed at him. Tsuna could immediately tell that the hitman was pissed over something. He felt so helpless that he was almost on the verge of crying. He lay there with his eyes closed. "So stop feeling like that. And remember that I raised you not to be so utterly pathetic." Reborn continued with a slightly emotional voice. Tsuna couldn't help but feel warm. Still, despite those reassuring words, the brunet's helplessness remained like a leech.

The thought that Reborn wouldn't abandon Tsuna was actually a first that Reborn said to the brunet that made him think that he shouldn't be this pathetic. However, he was Dame-Tsuna, but if…

"What can I do…? I am da-" Before Tsuna could even finish that sentence, Reborn had lifted him by the scruff of his shirt, dragging him upward and interrupted in a voice that was borderline dangerous. Tsuna had never heard such a sound from his tutor's mouth.

"You idiot boy! You're Vongola Jyuudaime more than anyone else!"

Tsuna was definitely taken aback by the tone Reborn was currently using, looking at his tutor with wide, shocked eyes. It felt oddly…nice.

"If you shout out your feelings, that would be the answer a Vongola would give."

' _My feelings?'_ Tsuna repeated in a daze as Reborn hopped downward, but his gaze never left his student.

"So the home tutor's given up. What he really wants is to run away from this place. Or…you won't run for the sake of your friends?" Mukuro mocked. Tsuna continued looking at the floor. His mind was swirling with different thoughts.

"I want to win." Tsuna murmured softly to himself. He clenched his fist as he gritted his teeth. "I want to beat Mukuro."

"Oh? That's unexpected. I'll hear the rest of the story after I've possessed you." Mukuro was clearly amused, snickering creepily again. "And after you've killed your friends by your own hands."

"I don't want to lose to such terrible person." Tsuna murmured. His eyes had taken a determined look. "I want to beat this guy!" Tsuna's feelings shook his very core. Leon burst out of his cocoon, turning into a bright light that momentarily shocked the spectators.

"Vongola! What did you do?!" Mukuro yelled in displeasure.

"I didn't do anything!" Tsuna admitted. He gasped loudly when he looked upward and saw his tutor's pet chameleon. "Leon!"

"He's finally emerged." Reborn informed them.

"Emerged?" Tsuna asked dubiously, looking upward at the bright light Leon was emitting with sudden fascination.

"Like the time when Dino became the Bucking Bronco." Reborn said with a proud smile on his face. Mukuro let out a displeased sound under his breathe, though he was still amused by the whole thing.

"I see. Arcobaleno, this is your doing."

"You're wrong." Reborn refuted softly. "This is the shape-shifting chameleon, Leon, my partner. For some reason, he becomes a cocoon when my students are given a trial."

"Is that what it is?" Tsuna asked curiously as he peered at Reborn.

"And when the student grows, he emerges." Tsuna made a disbelieving gasp, doubting yet believing Reborn at the same time.

"That's amusing. I wondered what he'd show us at the end…his pet's emergence. You two certainly are unique."

"What is this?" Tsuna commented as he looked at Reborn with a frown on his face. "How is this related to Dino becoming the Bucking Bronco?"

"Just watch." Reborn gestured for the brunet to look upward and look he did. Tsuna saw Leon smiling and doing something with his mouth, like chewing on something. "He's about to spit out a new item. Just for you, _my student_." Tsuna immediately detected a pleasant tone in the voice. He looked rather hopeful at the thought of getting a new item, especially if it could stop Mukuro.

"In Dino's case, he spat out the Bucking Bronco Whip and Enzo." Reborn said, still looking up. Tsuna whipped his head to look at his tutor as if he was really saying something so ridiculous, but the tutor paid him no mind.

"Enzo is Leon's baby?!" Tsuna said in disbelief, and then he slowly turned to look at Leon, feeling almost giddy.

"I cannot put up with your playtime forever. Let's call an end to this break and finish this!" Mukuro said. And with that, using Ken's body, the possessor made a run towards them with killer intent. Reborn kicked Tsuna away from Mukuro's range of influence. Then Mukuro slashed Leon in two. Tsuna was worried though Reborn was fast enough to placate his worried student.

"Don't worry. Leon is a shape-shifting chameleon." Reborn commented. "More importantly, something was shot upwards. It was the new item." When Tsuna looked up, he saw something glittering. The new item descended towards the brunet. It fell on his face and his eyes widened with bewilderment.

"Yarn mittens?!" Tsuna loudly proclaimed as he stared with a gobsmack look on his face.

"How do I fight with these?" Tsuna asked in complete confusion and bewilderment. "Wasn't it some kind of weapon that was supposed to pop out?! What's the point of giving my hands good circulation?!" Tsuna said in growing hysteria. Reborn merely looked at him pointedly. It was as if Reborn didn't care about the brunet's easily shaken personality at the moment.

"Just put them on." the hitman said in a deadpanned tone.

"You were amusing to the end." Before Tsuna could dodge, Mukuro had already attacked him with the trident and as he looked at his enemy with wide shocked eyes. The brunet was stabbed right where his heart was located and he let out a gurgle of pain.

"Oya? Looks like I've wounded you, Vongola." Mukuro stated with a slight hint of disinterest.

Before Tsuna could fall completely to the floor, he managed to remain kneeling. He was wheezing and had a hard time breathing. His consciousness was flickering and he grew pale.

"It was amusing till the very end, Vongola Jyuudaime. It's now time to sleep." He heard someone say. It was so familiar, but he couldn't pinpoint who it was.

"Tsuna!" another voice said. The sound was so achingly familiar and it was so worried. The brunet probably should know who it was, but he didn't, and he felt bad for it. So he slowly opened his mouth to apologize.

"S…Sorry."

Then he fell downward, hitting the hard and cold floor limply, lost in the darkness.

" _Maybe he would rather die than be caught. Or…"_

" _What's wrong, Bianchi? Get a hold of yourself. You just tried to skewer your little brother."_

" _This will be troublesome."_

" _No. It's like she's possessed."_

" _Regardless, it's a fact."_

" _It's not anything that ridiculous."_

" _The only thing I can think of is…"_

" _I don't know."_

" _There's no mistake. You made it look like a suicide, but you used that bullet. The Possession Bullet is forbidden. Where did you get it?"_

" _That's right. As the name implies, the Possession Bullet allows you to take control of another person's body."_

" _It was a special bullet created by the Estraneo Family. Not only do you need a strong spirit, but you must also be suited for the bullet."_

" _Long ago, the cold blooded use of the Possession Bullet caused it to be forbidden. The bullets and the knowledge used to create them should have been destroyed."_

" _That bullet must have been what you used to take control of men like Lanchia. But why do you have them?"_

" _I knew it. Your goal is to-"_

" _Be careful of his weapon. If you're wounded by that trident, he'll be able to possess you."_

" _Be careful. He'll possess either Gokudera or Bianchi."_

" _That's not all of it. There is them as well. Possessing four people at once… It's unheard of."_

" _He can use the abilities of those he possesses as well."_

" _This is really bad."_

" _He can use the abilities of those he possesses as well."_

" _You haven't learned a thing. This is an illusion."_

" _I haven't felt the air of real combat in a while."_

" _I can't help. Tsuna, do something quickly."_

" _If you're my student-"_

" _If you're my student, you can overcome this."_

" _I'm not lying. Your brother, Dino, overcame it too."_

" _When Dino was my student, he faced a life or death situation. He overcame it and transformed himself. No longer was he the weakling Dino. He became the Bucking Bronco Dino."_

" _Above you."_

" _That's why you didn't possess Hibari."_

" _I can't do anything for you. You must pull it off on your own."_

" _Don't sound so pathetic."_

" _You listening, Tsuna? You're Vongola Jyuudaime more than anyone else! If you shout out your feelings, that would be the answer a Vongola would give."_

" _He's finally emerged."_

" _Like_ that _time. Like when Dino became the Bucking Bronco."_

" _No you're wrong. This is the shape-shifting chameleon, Leon, my partner. For some reason, he becomes a cocoon when my students are given a trial."_

" _And when the student grows, he emerges."_

" _Just watch."_

" _He's about to spit out a new item. Just for you, my student."_

" _In Dino's case, he spat out the Bucking Bronco Whip and Enzo."_

" _He's coming!"_

" _Don't worry. Leon is a shape-shifting chameleon. More importantly, something was shot upwards. It looks like it's safe. That's the new item."_

" _Who knows? Just put them on."_


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

"No one told me that he was so dangerous!" Tsuna shrieked as he clung onto the blanket and his body shivering from fright. That man, Xanxus, was really scary, especially when the man would look at him with a deadly glare.

"Those weren't the eyes of a human." Tsuna murmured frightfully as he closed his eyes, wanting to get rid of the image of that hateful stare that was at the front of his mind like a plague. He gripped the blanket tighter, instead of burying the blanket around his head, though he was really tempted to just do that. Reborn looked up at him.

"They are pretty dangerous." And that didn't reassure the brunet at all. It only made him shiver even more. If Reborn, his sadistic Spartan tutor, had contradicted, he would have felt that better. With no comfort, Tsuna could only scream in frustration.

"Don't just agree with me!"

He immediately sagged down and clutched his blanket like a lifeline. When Reborn voiced something like that, it just made the situation real, that those Varia guys would be dangerous. He didn't want to deal with any of them. In fact, the brunet would gladly hand over the half Vongola rings to them.

"Just why do I have to be involved in the fight to become the successor?" he added solemnly and inwardly thought that these stressful Mafia situations would be his death.

"I'd like to ask that myself." Reborn stated. Tsuna noticed that it was voiced in a thoughtful tone, automatically grabbing his attention and made him stare with a concerned raised brow. There was meaning behind those words. Reborn wasn't sure of something, which immediately alarmed him. Reborn seemed to know _everything_.

However there was something nagging at the back of the brunet's mind telling him that Reborn was merely pretending. Tsuna immediately blinked back that thought.

"The ninth isn't the kind of guy who'd promote this kind of mindless battle." Reborn said thoughtfully. Tsuna looked at his tutor with a questioning expression. The tutor adapted a thoughtful expression on his face, even amplified when Reborn lifted his closed fist and his chubby fingers pressed lightly almost below his chin.

"I can only imagine that something happened." Reborn muttered to himself. Tsuna kept looking at his tutor, who seemed to be thinking really deeply.

Why did he even thought that Reborn was pretending? There was just no way this genuine expression on his tutor's face a fake.

Well, Reborn might pretend to not know for the sake of letting him decide on a good decision without outside influence though those happened at the expense of his suffering. However it was load better than his father who pretend to do things for his son's own good but only made Tsuna's life harder.

The brunet automatically opened his mouth for a questioning word, wanting to hear what Reborn was speculating.

"Something?" Then he jerked from his position and peered at his tutor with an alarmed look on his face at the sudden thought. "Dad messed up too!"

He didn't want to be a Mafia boss or even in the Mafia. Tsuna kept telling them that. His Dad must have known that too, yet his father went over and didn't give those half Vongola rings to Xanxus who actually wanted to be in charge. Now, he was tangled in this mess because of his father's incompetence.

"Just why didn't he hand over the rings?" he muttered sullenly as he looked down to himself when Tsuna suddenly remembered the incident with Xanxus that afternoon. The memory made him shiver. Tsuna said with a touch of annoyance and resignation, "This wouldn't have happened if he had just given Xanxus the rings."

He almost wanted to sigh. This mess was his father's fault.

"That's not true." Reborn immediately disagreed and it made him inwardly bristle. "Xanxus is a man who doesn't make oversights. Sooner or later," The hitman hopped and landed on his bed, gazing his eyes over from his student, "You would all have been killed."

That admission immediately made Tsuna's eyes widen in fear and his back to straightened. He looked at his tutor with a miserable expression in his face.

"T-That's terrible!" Tsuna let out a frightened cry before pulling the blanket on his head. When he deemed himself safe within the confine of the blanket, he said in a sulky tone. "Why did this-" Only to stop when the blanket was yanked upward, unconsciously making the small cowering brunet to shriek.

Tsuna's eyes widened for a bit when the blanket came to be on Reborn's grip. "Reborn!" He said in a fairly admonishing tone and a glare.

He tried to yank the blanket back, but he was violently interrupted when Reborn hit him on the head with a walking stick. Tsuna let out a startled, pained cry at his tutor's action as he automatically pressed both his handd on his head to soothe the blossoming pain he could feel pulsing from his skull.

"That hurts!" Tsuna complained as he peered at his tutor with tearful eyes then winced when his pained skull didn't let up. "What did you do that for?" Tsuna exclaimed as he threw an accusing glare at his tutor.

"You were acting like a coward." Reborn said with a shrug. Tsuna's thoughts were however different from his tutor's. _'You just enjoy hitting me!'_ Which Tsuna frankly thought was valid if Reborn's amused smirk was any indication.

Tsuna almost wanted to throw his hands up in the air in an act of surrender but instead he looked away before lying down on his bed. He curled into himself as he pulled his pillow over his ears.

"Why did this happen? I don't want to do this!" Tsuna cried out, eyes closed tightly and his voice quivering with fear. His body gave another shiver at the thought of fighting Xanxus that he let out a moan of misery and curled closer.

Reborn on the other hand, watched his student with an almost bored look on his face before kicking his student's back, making that said student shriek in an apparent show of pain as he jerked upright.

Tsuna glared at his tutor once again before finally sighing in resignation. The brunet looked away with a brow furrowed downward and was about to curl when Reborn, his tutor, had landed on his knee in front of him.

It was too close for comfort because God knows what kind of cruelty Reborn would dish out for him. Tsuna backed away, but as he was already leaning on the wall, all he could do was gulp down and wish that Reborn wouldn't hit him.

Reborn's small and chubby hand reached for the fringe of his hair that were sticking near his forehead. When Tsuna saw that action, he jerked his head, accidentally bumping it on the wall and hissed in pain. Despite Tsuna's action, Reborn still stayed unfazed.

"Dame-Tsuna," Reborn called out with a hint of amusement. Tsuna just knew his tutor was inwardly cackling to himself. The brunet outwardly shrieked and braced himself for… more pain. He wished that his tutor wouldn't be so sadistic but looked like that was not tonight or never at all.

"Tsuna." Reborn repeated his name in a slightly lower voice making Tsuna look up at his tutor. The distance was actually close and made Tsuna feel that his personal space was being invaded but this was Reborn, so that point was mute. However, the distance right now felt a lot closer than normal. Tsuna could see Reborn's face up close. He wanted to back away but Reborn was looking at him in the eyes that he couldn't just do that. Tsuna felt like it would be a mistake if he did.

Tsuna looked at his tutor with growing apprehension, waiting for the verdict that would surely be said. The thought that Reborn was acting weird had crossed his mind, but he immediately shot down that ridiculous notion as fear that Reborn would somehow read it on his face replaced it. Despite how unbelievable the thought that Reborn knew how to read mind, the tutor did have instances where he seemed to know how to read facial expressions and every twitch of the human body. It was slightly and oddly discomforting. And he wouldn't want Reborn to read how his student found the baby weird. Reborn would only give him more suffering. Tsuna already had too much going on that his nerve was frazzled, he wouldn't wish for any more of that.

Again, Reborn's hand slowly shot up in the air and Tsuna watched that hand warily, as that same hand was the cause of his many miseries in life. He noticed how those hand hesitantly reached for his hair.

Then that hand didn't actually reach for his hair but instead to his forehead. He felt and seen that he was slightly smacked by that same small and chubby hand.

Tsuna's eyes widened in momentarily confusion. He actually thought that Reborn was going to pull his hair harshly. He didn't expect was for his tutor to smack him on the forehead as if a warning.

"Re-" Reborn's words cut him off.

"You should calm down."

Tsuna abruptly blinked at that statement and turned indignant as he squinted his eyes for a glare. Trust Reborn to say something easy like that when he was not. But his thoughts were disrupted once again when Reborn smacked him on the forehead again, this time with enough force that he could feel it sting. However, it was comparably light to Reborn's usual painful treatment of him. Though the smack it made him let out a startled squawk.

"I still don't want to do this." Tsuna murmured as he averted his gaze. "I don't want my friends getting hurt from fighting those guys."

"Of course. What kind of boss would you be if you let your comrades get hurt?" Reborn said with an approving voice. Tsuna looked at his tutor with a hopeful expression on his face.

"Then you'd agree if we decided to run away?"

Reborn smacked him on his head, making Tsuna groan pitifully before throwing a hateful glare at his passive looking tutor. The hitman seemed to read the meaning of his glare and looked at him a bit disapprovingly. "Maybe the training was too hard on you."

Tsuna's eyes widened and then he huffed loudly, "I don't want to fight, so training me would be useless!" He looked away and at the same time, Reborn had jumped, landing on edge of his bed. Tsuna didn't see this, but with Reborn not standing in front of him, he plopped down and curled himself tightly. "I don't want to fight…"

"I see." Reborn said in a disappointed voice and Tsuna only curled himself tighter as he pressed the pillow against his ears. "Then go to school tomorrow." Reborn decided before trotting away from his student's bed.

Tsuna merely closed his eyes and wished that when tomorrow came, this would be merely a dream.

" _They are pretty dangerous."_

" _I'd like to ask that myself."_

" _As far as I know, the ninth isn't the kind of guy who'd promote this kind of mindless battle. I can only imagine that something happened."_

" _That's not true. Xanxus is a man who doesn't make oversights. Sooner or later, you would all have been killed."_

" _I see. Then go to school."_

With wide vulnerable and shocked eyes, Tsuna knelt on the dirty ground on his knees, seeing the result of his attacks. He couldn't believe what happened. Tsuna didn't expect an old man, much less the Kyuudaime to come out of the monstrous weapon machine, Gola Mosca. However, Kyuudaime did come out, strapped and bound and was scorched and wounded in the chest by the brunet's own attack. It left Tsuna's mind reeling and guilt started clawing on his heart.

"W-What in the world…?" Tsuna didn't even finish that line of thought when his tutor, Reborn, suddenly appeared by his side, ready to check up on the wounded old man.

Tsuna peripherally saw that Reborn checked the Kyuudaime but his sight stayed rooted at the scorching and ghastly wound on Kyuudaime's chest.

Reborn glanced at the open and broken weapon in front of them, and then went back to checking the wound on the ninth. Reborn made a displeased _tch_ under his breath. "I've seen Mosca's structure before. It seems like the ninth was being used as Gola Mosca's power supply."

Tsuna gasped at the explanation. He didn't like what those words actually meant.

"P-Power supply?" Tsuna asked in a small voice. He sagged down in misery as his mind came up with an answer to his asked question. The ninth was used… as the power supply, like some battery and he…

He gulped down and slowly chocked out a whimpered, "W-Why?"

Tsuna didn't notice that Reborn had cut the straps around the older man with a displeased frown on his face. "Get a hold of yourself, Ninth."

Tsuna's guilt was running rampant inside his chest. It held him in a chocking hold that made him want to bolt and never see this horrible sin he had committed. He closed his eyes, constricting pain in his heart as he bent down, his face and his hair covering his eyes.

"There is no time for asking _why_." The angry menacing voice of Xanxus brought Tsuna back to the reality and he slowly lifted his head. The brunet turned to face Xanxus who was glaring angrily at him. "You attacked the ninth." The other man declared. With that sentence, Tsuna's eyes widened in horror.

' _I…'_ His heart almost leapt from his chest with that sentence and Tsuna could feel his fast beating heart.

"I…" Tsuna outwardly started and despite looking at Xanxus, Tsuna wasn't actually seeing anything but what he had committed. "I did?" He questioningly asked no one in particular but as he voiced it aloud, he remembered how he had punched Gola Mosca on the chest and Tsuna started shaking outwardly. The shaking brunet turned his unfocused eyes on his mitten-covered hands.

"I…I…" Tsuna fearfully started again while his body shook. He remembered the way he brought down his flamed-covered hand to chop down Gola Mosca in two, and then how the weak body of an old man stumbled out of it. Right then and there, he felt like his world crumbled and his body felt numb.

"I… That's…" It is his...

"Tsuna." Reborn started, but despite hearing it, the brunet still remained sitting in that pathetic position and wallowing in his own guilt.

"No." A sudden unfamiliar voice rang in front of them. Tsuna's face turned to look at where it was coming from.

A pale, bony and weak hand slowly reached up for him. Tsuna's eyes widened when he saw whose hand it belonged to and he gasped. "It was my fault." Kyuudaime started. Tsuna looked worriedly at the older man, the Vongola ninth boss who had decided to make him the next boss.

"Kyuudaime!"

"We're finally able to meet, Tsunayoshi-kun." Kyuudaime said in an almost relieved tone. Tsuna was slightly confused by that. However, he didn't have time to ponder or even warn him not to talk in this situation when Kyuudaime still continued talking despite his wound.

"I'm sorry." The old man said solemnly. Tsuna continued staring in worried fright for the old man. Despite feeling sinned, for causing the old man's suffering, he just didn't have any heart to stop the man from apologizing to him.

"All of this happened because of my weakness." The old man admitted but Tsuna shook his head, wanting to refute that it wasn't Kyuudaime's fault but his.

"My weakness woke Xanxus from his long slumber." The old man continued and those words made Tsuna's face form into confusion.

"Slumber?" He heard Reborn ask. Despite feeling guilty of what happened Tsuna's felt that Reborn was merely asking for clarification as a cover. Tsuna immediately shot down that line of thought. He could think about it later on. Right now he wanted to know if Kyuudaime's life was safe from harm.

"Re-" Tsuna started a bit panicky, but Reborn cut him off forcefully by continuing as if he wasn't disrupted from the start. "What do you mean?" Tsuna bit his bottom lip when he noticed what Reborn was doing, turning to look at Reborn questioningly while Reborn explained.

"After Xanxus left the _crib_ , he left the Family and should have been placed under heavy surveillance by Vongola."

Tsuna immediately asked his tutor with a frown on his face, "Crib?"

"The greatest coup d'état attempt in Vongola's history occurred eight years ago. The dreadful fact that the ninth's son was responsible was kept secret. Only the higher ups of Vongola and the elite who fought in that battle knew of it." Reborn answered without even glancing at his student. Tsuna looked at Reborn's grave expression, the explanation making him gulp down nervously.

"For Xanxus, time has stood still for eight years. He's been asleep during that time, inflating his dreadful amount of hate and tenacity." Kyuudaime said. Tsuna's mind was left a little bit confused at those words he found strange and he knew had double meaning. _'The time?'_

"What do you mean?" Tsuna asked, making a sidelong glance at his tutor, hoping that he had the answer to his question. But the sudden coughing made him hurriedly look at Kyuudaime however it was enough for him to see that Reborn had a displeased expression on his face. "A-Are you all right?" He worriedly asked with slightly raised voice.

"Hang in there!" He exclaimed a bit higher. If this were a different situation, he would have already shrieked rather loudly and muttered how he didn't know what to do.

"Tsunayoshi-kun," Kyuudaime said his name and he looked at the old man in the eyes, wondering what he would say to him now of all time.

"I constantly hear about you from Reborn. About the girl you like, about your school, about your friends, about you…" Tsuna saw the old man seemingly try to relax his body. "You are a child with a heart too ill-matched to that of a Mafia boss just like he said." At the mention of _he_ Tsuna discreetly made a glance at his tutor but Reborn was facing away.

"I know…" Ninth paused to wheeze for air and Tsuna could sense that the old man was growing weak on every word but he couldn't make his mouth work, to stop the old man from saying anymore at the fear he was robbing the old man his last parting words.

"That you've never once fought happily." Kyuudaime's lips formed into a small weak smile, but it wasn't of happiness. It was of sadness for forcing a mere child into holding this heavy burden.

Tsuna's mind was reeling. He could only silently pray that the ninth, this strong man, would be all right in the end.

The old man closed his eyes, willing his limp bony hand to move. "He once said that you always had a wrinkle on your forehead, that you swing your fists as if to pray." The old man lifted his own hand upward, little by little. "I could see that and with your precious bright heart… that's why,"

Tsuna saw Kyuudaime's hand reached for his forehead as he pointed his index finger he said with weak voice but the voice was of determination, of slight hint of happiness, "That's why I choose you to be Vongola Jyuudaime."

His eyes widened for a bit, _'Didn't he choose Xanxus?'_ And along with that thought the pointed finger produced sky flames which made him take a look at it. Tsuna looked at the flame with little hint of wonder, thinking of why the flame was familiar to him when it was merely his first time seeing the Kyuudaime…

He gasped as his eyes widened in sudden remembrance. _'I…'_ he knew him. Kyuudaime… that kind grandfather who once visited him, many many years ago.

Tsuna blinked without noticing that tears flowed from his eyes down to his chin. He worriedly looked at the old man as he silently cried.

His eyes suddenly widened in alarm when the pale limb hand weakened and the flames got smaller.

"I'm sorry." Kyuudaime suddenly apologized and Tsuna jerked from his current position to look at the kind old man. Tsuna's hand reached for his arm weakly. "But I'm glad it's you." Ninth said with a genuine peaceful expression on his face.

"Wait!" Tsuna cried out, holding the weak bony hand. The brunet didn't want to see this. It was as if, the Kyuudaime was parting from this world. "No! Please wait!"

Tsuna sniffed and saw the old man's eyes closed as if he was blissfully sleeping. His eyes widened and he yelled with tears streaked face, "Kyuudaime!" Then Tsuna sob weakly and silently.

"How dare you kill the ninth." He heard Xanxus say with his menacing voice yet Tsuna continued looking at the body of the kind old man who had smiled upon him in his memories. But upon those words uttered, Tsuna turned to Xanxus slowly.

"I take your cruel treatment of the ninth as a challenge to his true son, Xanxus, and the honorable spirit of Vongola."

Tsuna gasped. Why would Xanxus still say something like that? Ninth _is_ Xanxus father yet, Xanxus was still talking about the Mafia and Vongola.

"Don't feign ignorance." Xanxus added, "The burns on the ninth's chest are more than enough proof. The ring conflict is nothing compared to what you've done. This is for the sake of my father, who was the boss, and for the future of Vongola. I will defeat you and avenge him."

Tsuna stared with wide eyes. Xanxus said it as if, Kyuudaime was already dead. He couldn't wrap his mind around the thought that Xanxus didn't even feel an ounce of concern for his father.

"This is what you were after." Reborn said, looking at Xanxus. Tsuna's eyes widened at that and automatically looked at his tutor with a hint of confusion, but more for clarification because somehow he felt that he knew what everything meant.

"Even if Xanxus wins the Ring Conflict and became the boss-in-waiting, the ones who know about the _crib_ would object to his appointment and resist him." Reborn explained and Tsuna looked at his tutor with rapt attention. Somewhere in Tsuna's gut, was telling him that everything was a script.

"But if he avenges the ninth after framing Tsuna, it would be different. He would gain the absolute trust of many in the Family. And if he's stronger than Tsuna, who was meant to be the tenth, he could prove that he is the true successor."

Tsuna's eyes widened as the explanation goes on.

"If that were to happen, it wouldn't be an issue to deal with those who oppose him." Reborn ended and as Tsuna stared at his tutor's back. Despite feeling that Reborn was already finished, he could feel that Reborn wanted to say more.

"Then, Xanxus did this to become the boss and create a dictatorship!" Basil exclaimed in horrified realization.

"This was a trap. Where Mosca to go out of control and pit Tsuna's friends in danger, he predicted that Tsuna would come to rescue them." Reborn agreed. Tsuna tensed at that answer amd he started trembling.

"That's…" He sniffed, "Just for that…" He continued crying and trembling at the horrible truth that was said. The thought that Xanxus could do that to his father just to further his own goal, it felt wrong.

"Everyone, please refrain from speculations. We are officially recording all statements." A female, one of the Cervello women interrupted.

"I knew it!" Tsuna heard Gokudera yelled in self-discovery and hatred, "Cervello has always been on Xanxus's side!"

"Do as you wish." Tsuna jerked to look at Reborn, feeling the cold tone.

"I've already snapped." Tsuna waited to know what Reborn's action would be and was a bit surprised that the hitman would even admit that he had snapped.

Somewhere in his gut feeling, this all felt so rehearsed, like a broken script.

However his mind was now in different matter.

"But I will keep my promise to the ninth and won't raise a hand. Not in my student's fight." Reborn continued then glanced at his student carefully. Tsuna wondered what Reborn saw. Tsuna could feel that his tutor was discreetly studying him, waiting for him. "Even as I say that, I don't know what _my student_ , who doesn't like fighting, will do."

Reborn really knew him. Tsuna inwardly smiled but in the outside, he had already stood up. Tsuna slowly said, his fringe was covering his expression but Reborn was looking at his student with a satisfied small smile that no one noticed, "Xanxus. I'll be taking that ring back." Tsuna declared. He turned and looked at his opponent with a determined expression on his face. He will defeat Xanxus. "I won't let you succeed the ninth."

As Tsuna declared that, Reborn watched _his student_ grow with determination and he hoped…

" _Hey. Get a hold of yourself!"_

" _I've seen Mosca's structure once before. It seems like the ninth was being used as Gola Mosca's power supply."_

" _This isn't good. This wound can't be dealt with using first aid."_

" _Slumber? What do you mean? After Xanxus left the_ crib _, he left the Family and should have been placed under heavy surveillance by Vongola."_

" _The greatest coup d'état attempt in Vongola history occurred eight years ago. The dreadful fact that the ninth's son was responsible was kept secret. Only the higher ups of Vongola and the elite who fought in that battle knew of it."_

" _This is what you were after. Even if he wins the Ring conflict and become the boss-in-waiting, the ones who know about the_ crib _would object to his appointment and resist him. But if he avenges the ninth after framing Tsuna, it would be different. He would gain the absolute trust of many in the Family. And if he's stronger than Tsuna, who was meant to be the tenth, he could prove that he is the true successor. If that were to happen, it wouldn't be an issue to deal with those who oppose him."_

" _Yeah. This was a trap. Were Mosca's to go out of control and put Tsuna's friends in danger, he predicted that Tsuna would come to rescue them."_

" _Do as you wish. I've already snapped. But I will keep my promise to the ninth and won't raise a hand, not in my student's fight. Even as I say that, I don't know what my student, who doesn't like fighting will do."_

He needed to win. Tsuna knew that. His friends' lives depended on him winning this match against Xanxus, but the brunet already could feel his body succumbing to the pain from all these attacks he had received. He started to see the difference between their strength.

"Die, Trash!" Xanxus said mockingly, yelling with a derisive smirk as the guns in his hands started glowing and accumulating flames. Tsuna's eyes widened at that. It would be fatal if he got hit by that attack in mid-air. He was only able to survive that same attack because of the vest Reborn gave him. Now he was merely in his dress shirt and he didn't think he would be able to dodge fast this incoming attack. Tsuna readied his own attack instead of dodging.

It's do or die. Tsuna braced himself and focused as he waited for the precious moment.

"Scoppio di Ira!" Xanxus yelled, followed by several resounding gunshots.

' _Zero Point Breakthrough Custom!'_

And as Tsuna received the attack head on, he vehemently wished that he would succeed, that he wouldn't be defeated.

There was a loud explosion that shook him to his very core and as the bright light diminished after he countered it with his own attack. Tsuna knew that he wasn't going to be able to absorbed most of the attack.

Tsuna cried out in pain when a burning heat assaulted him from his back. He slowly fell from the sky. In his peripheral vision, he saw how gleeful Xanxus looked and his guns where pointed at him. How Xanxus managed to get on his defenceless back after unleashing his own attack second ago was lost to Tsuna.

The brunet then closed his eyes as he slowly fell from the sky. Oh, how he wanted to just let himself fall. He could feel himself getting weaker. The flames on his forehead were getting swept by the wind. The pain all over his body lingered and clung to him in a tight hold even more so when his flames weren't there to help him.

Tsuna idly wondered how long it would take to finally reach on the ground.

But despite the pain, he still wanted to fight.

Tsuna's body slowly descended from the air and his body grew weaker and heavier like a lead. He wanted to move; to slow his own descend even if the thought of sleeping was so tempting. However his body wouldn't obey his mind.

Tsuna suddenly thought that maybe someone would catch him and he could fight once again.

"Tsuna!"

That familiar squeaky voice yelled and he willed to face where the voice was coming from. Coincidentally his body was already looking at that direction and there he saw everyone looking at him worriedly and frightened for him. He didn't like that he was the cause of their concerned expressions. Even Reborn, his tutor, was obviously looking at him worriedly and now with sudden alarm.

Reborn was proud of him and for Tsuna, Dame-Tsuna, he wanted to take that expectation head on, but now, he would go to sleep without a choice. How unfair. How could Tsuna show that Reborn's expectations were met? How could he show Xanxus that he would defeat him for the bad things he had committed?

Finally Tsuna fell, claimed by the darkness, once more.

" _He's lucky that he avoided a direct hit."_


	4. Chapter Four - Part One

**Chapter Four: Part One**

"My wish is for Tsuna to…" Reborn paused for dramatics, "Get 100 points on a test." Tsuna turned to look at his tutor, seeing the smile he came to know as Reborn's up to no good with his spartan method gesture. However, his eyes…

Why did Tsuna feel that Reborn wanted to say something else?

A jolt in his bones brought the brunet back to reality, making him groan in pain. "Ow, ow! My bones…"

"Let's study hard tonight!" Reborn declared.

"T-That's terrible!" Tsuna cried out in alarm at the thought of studying all night. Somebody save him from the horror of studying with Reborn!

"Do your best, Tsu-kun." His mother encouraged yet it didn't make Tsuna feel better. Reborn hopped onto his student's head and slowly murmured with a frown.

"It's not like you…" Reborn seemed to stop his words. Tsuna was still moaning in misery about how he didn't want to study and asking for someone to free him from the swords that were making his body sore. Reborn harrumphed and then suddenly patted Tsuna on his head. "Dame-Tsuna." Reborn muttered with a hint of fondness.

Later that night, Tsuna lay on his bed and thought about the event that transpired.

"That was a terrible experience…but it was fun to get rowdy with everyone." Tsuna said as he gazed at the ceiling. His mind replayed the party they just had. The contest and everything else was fun in the end, despite feeling sore from his last stunt at that _magic_ _show_.

"I wish these days will continue, and scary people will never come out again." He smiled at his hopeful thinking. However, he truly wished for these wonderful and blissfully fun days with everyone to go on forever, just laughing and having fun instead of dealing about the Mafia. He turned to look at Reborn's hammock, "What about you, Reborn?" Reborn turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow, but the tutor didn't deign to answer the brunet's question. The student was taken aback when Reborn jumped from his hammock and landed next to him. "Reborn?" Tsuna hesitantly start after he sat up from lying down.

"What?" Reborn murmured under his breath, a bit annoyed, making Tsuna sweat dropped. An annoyed Reborn was not someone he wanted to deal with since it always end with the brunet sporting bruises that last for several days. Reborn continued to stare at Tsuna, making the brunet tilt his head in confusion, wondering why the hitman was looking at him with those eyes…that told a different story from his words and actions.

Tsuna sighed. Ever since they met, Reborn _always_ looked at him like that, distantly, knowingly, otherworldly. It actually bothered him, but he grew accustomed to such strangeness.

"Reborn?" He hesitantly called out again. Reborn continued looking at Tsuna. The brunet took it as an acquiescence for him to ask anything since the hitman didn't kick nor say anything. It made him think that Reborn was merely sounding annoyed instead of being actually annoyed. He didn't want to sound rude, but despite feeling that he was stepping on a landmine, he braved himself to ask. He was actually very curious what Reborn's answer would be.

"Why…do you always look at me like that?" Tsuna started nervously and unsurely.

Reborn tilted his head sideways, an action Tsuna himself did on frequent occasion when he didn't get what someone meant. When Reborn did that, it was like he was mocking the brunet. "Like what?"

Tsuna felt that he stepped on a landmine that would explode any second.

Tsuna had the urge to sigh in annoyance to diffuse the tension, but he knew it would only serve to make Reborn hit him. Then this conversation would be buried underneath the pain. Instead the brunet opted to look away for a bit to gather himself and force out the question that made him feel unsure. When he felt he could ask the question without stuttering did Tsuna turn to the infant, only to click his mouth shut at what he saw.

' _He…fell asleep.'_ Tsuna thought incredulously. He stared at the infant lying next to him, blowing a bubble through his nose and breathing silently.

Reborn…never wanted to talk about it. That was the feeling that coursed through Tsuna in that instant.

"Ah…" Tsuna shook his head as if to dispel what happened and to live in more denial.

If Reborn didn't want to talk, then Tsuna had no other choice but to accept it.

Tsuna slowly and carefully got up, trying not to rouse the wrath of his sleeping tutor, and then turned off the light.

As he glanced at his sleeping tutor, the brunet decided that he wouldn't ask again another time. It seemed to hurt his tutor after all. And, even if the hitman didn't look like it, maybe someday Reborn would tell him.

' _I wish that this blissful life with everyone will continue forever.'_ was Tsuna's last thought before falling asleep, his tutor tucked in next to him.

During the night, a small chubby hand petted Tsuna's head warmly, affectionately, but he wasn't completely roused from that small action. Later that morning, the brunet had forgotten what had transpired but he couldn't stop feeling that oddly warm tingling on his head. It strangely brought a smile to his face. Only for that same bright smile to vanish when Reborn didn't return home after being shot by the ten year bazooka.

" _My wish is for Tsuna to get 100 points on a test."_

" _Let's study all night!"_

" _It's not like I can be with you forever."_

"You're late." The familiar squeaky voice of his tutor made Tsuna immediately spin to the direction where it was coming from. Upon landing his sight on his fedora-clad tutor, the brunet's mouth parted in a gasp and his eyes widened.

"Ciaossu!" Reborn greeted while sitting on a chair.

In that moment, Tsuna stayed rooted on his feet. He could feel the growing tears on his eyes at the relief of seeing his tutor. When Lal Mirch had said that Reborn and the other strong babies were gone, he couldn't believe what he had heard. It never even occurred to him that Reborn would disappear. When Reborn suddenly vanished yesterday and didn't return home, Tsuna grew alarmed, but he forcefully placated himself to the idea that Reborn was merely somewhere else doing God knows what. It was quite a shock that Lal said that they were gone with a serious and painful look. The brunet thanked Gokudera for convincing him that Reborn _is_ invincible and then hoped that the hitman was well.

Now that Reborn was before him, Tsuna's relief was so overwhelming that he felt like crying right there and then. It was ridiculous, but he didn't care.

"R-Reborn…" Tsuna started. His tears were threatening to fall. He slowly walked forward, hands outstretched to reach for his tutor.

"Hug me~" And the brunet was about to, but the second he moved, he was interrupted by Reborn's same squeaky voice, but it was coming from somewhere else and it had taken him aback.

"I'm over here, Tsuna!" Reborn yelled with a hint of amusement.

Tsuna felt a sudden kick at the back of his head, making him stagger forward comically and fall face first on the Reborn in the chair. Tsuna immediately sat upright and cradled his bruised head, groaning.

"Are you alright, Jyuudaime?" Gokudera crouched down and fussed over the brunet in alarm. Tsuna distinctly heard the silverette, but ignored him, focusing on the pain.

"My toes fit in the back of your head." Reborn commented. Tsuna immediately whipped his head to where Reborn was standing.

"W-What's with this messed up reunion?! I was looking all over for you!" Tsuna cried out, cradling his head as he noted that Reborn was wearing another…ridiculous outfit. "And, you're in a weird outfit again!"

This was just so Reborn-like to greet him with violence that Tsuna was glad for since it meant nothing had changed. It didn't mean he was going to tolerate Reborn's abuse though.

' _I'm glad he's safe.'_ Tsuna looked at Reborn in relief and his eyes shone with overwhelming emotions.

"I know," Reborn answered knowingly. Tsuna knew it had a double meaning, but he felt that the hitman was saying that he knew the brunet was worried about him. "I can't help it. I'll get sick if I don't wear this special suit." Tsuna could detect a hint of dismay in Reborn's voice. "I had that barrier made for me too." Reborn added as he hopped onto the chair. Tsuna looked at his tutor confusedly at those answers.

"What do you mean?" Tsuna said with a frown on his face.

"It means that it's a harsh world out there for me." Reborn answered dismissively. Tsuna looked dubious at that answer.

"There you go again, talking about weird things."

"Oh yeah!" Tsuna snapped his eyes in sudden remembrance. "Something's wrong! We can't get back to the past!"

"I know that much. That's not the only odd thing." Reborn said. "The time is off." That made Tsuna look even more confusedly at his tutor.

"We were shot by the ten year bazooka, but only nine years and ten months have passed." Reborn revealed in a serious tone.

"That means it's two months off?" Tsuna questioned hesitantly.

Reborn immediately agreed, "Yeah. We don't know why that happened."

That made Tsuna look at him with worried expression as the thought that even Reborn didn't know something passed by. "That's terrible!"

"It's a good thing we weren't blown into a strange land." Reborn commented.

' _Huh?'_ Tsuna blinked in confusion.

"Land? Where are we?" the brunet asked and made a gesture to look around. Reborn looked at him with an amused expression. Tsuna immediately saw that Reborn was giving him a look that said, _'Really?'_ A sudden blush of embarrassment appeared on Tsuna's cheeks as he exclaimed. "We had a lot to deal with!"

"Takeshi, can you put it on a monitor?" Reborn requested. Tsuna was surprised that the hitman referred the ten year older Yamamoto by _Takeshi_. He filed that fact for later scrutiny as he squashed the jealous thought to the back of his head.

"This is above us." Adult Yamamoto explained after switching the monitor on with the remote controller. They saw a few unfamiliar buildings. Tsuna could say that he didn't see anything familiar. It was dark too.

"You should recognize this." Adult Yamamoto said seriously. With another click on the remote, the image on the monitor changed and Tsuna exclaimed at the obvious image of his school.

"N-Namimori Middle?! This is Namimori?" Tsuna was shocked. He unconsciously took a step back, so did Gokudera. "We were in Japan?"

"That's right." Tsuna wondered how he didn't notice that they were still in Namimori, but he shook it off. They were traveling by the forest, so he really wouldn't be able to recognize where they were.

"As long as you can't return to the past, this is your problem as well." Reborn said seriously. Tsuna turned to look at his tutor. He idly wondered why Reborn was still acting serious.

"Currently, all Vongola strongholds around the world are under simultaneous attack. Even here in Japan, the Vongola hunt is continuing." Adult Yamamoto explained with a grave expression. Tsuna could feel his heart beating quickly at that last sentence, disbelief was written on his face.

"Vongola…hunt?"

"You must have seen the coffin with the Vongola mark." Reborn remarked.

"That's the thing I was in!" Tsuna exclaimed in apprehension, denial diminishing to dust. The next thing Tsuna knew, Gokudera was cursing and punching adult Yamamoto in the face before grabbing Yamamoto's collar in anger.

"You bastard!" Tsuna's eyes widened.

"Gokudera-kun!" He was about to placate his friend, but the silverette wasn't listening.

"What were you doing?!" Gokudera angrily yelled at adult Yamamoto. Tsuna stopped, standing still even though he didn't want to see them fighting. Tsuna felt his heart beat faster than earlier. "Why did _that_ happen to Jyuudaime?!" Adult Yamamoto averted his gaze then murmured lowly, painfully, as if speaking the words for countless of time.

"I'm sorry."

Tsuna gulped at the painful look in adult Yamamoto's eyes. He didn't want to see that on his friend's face and for _him_ to be the cause of that suffering…

"Sorry doesn't cover it!" Gokudera's hand clenched the collar of the older man harder. Tsuna nibbled his bottom lip nervously. The silverette looked so angry with older Yamamoto, who didn't even refute, taking the full brunt of Gokudera's hatred as if to quell his guilt. It made the brunet think that he… But maybe he didn't. Maybe his older self was only injured or something.

"Stop it, Gokudera." Reborn said clearly and loudly, ringing throughout the room. They all turned to the infant.

"You," Reborn started, looking at Gokudera's eyes, but somewhere far beyond the naked eye. It was the same look the hitman always gave Tsuna. "Ten years in the future, you were in that same position."

Reluctantly, Gokudera let go of his hold with gritted teeth and a muttered curse as he averted his gaze. Tsuna looked at them, then down at his feet, biting his lip anxiously. When Reborn began speaking again, he turned to look at his tutor with a worried frown.

"The enemy, the Millefiore family, has an enormous fighting force. They are cold and cruel, especially Byakuran, their leader." Reborn looked at them, but Tsuna noticed that his tutor was actually not seeing him. Where was this thought coming from? Tsuna immediately squashed these thoughts and feelings to focus on the discussion.

"When Vongola Headquarters fell, Millefiore prepared a talk between the two leaders and called on our boss." Adult Yamamoto explained. Tsuna felt curious and a gut feeling told he already knew what happened next.

"And then?" Tsuna asked apprehensively, his heart beat even faster. Adult Yamamoto made a side long glance at him.

"However, they didn't negotiate at all, and took the boss's life." Yamamoto ended with gritted teeth. Tsuna clenched his fist and abruptly looked away.

"That's me, ten years from…" Tsuna had already suspected. However, it had been merely speculation and a gut feeling. He didn't want to believe it, but it had been confirmed and it was…stifling. Tsuna shook his head away from that thought. He didn't want to think about it.

"Since then, the Millefiore have ignored all our summons, and have continued to kill people. Their goal is to wipe out every last person on the Vongola's side." Adult Yamamoto explained further, his arms crossed across his chest.

"M-Meaning we're also in danger, even though we're from the past?" Tsuna asked worriedly and a hint of alarm.

"That's not all. Every person you've been involved with is a target as well." Reborn said in a grave tone. Tsuna gasped in shock. His heart started beating faster to the point of hurting.

"That's…" His throat was dry all of the sudden. _'I…'_ He started now thinking of the words said to them, but his dwelling on that matter were cut off when Reborn spoke.

"Don't lose your head. All hope isn't lost." The infant looked at Tsuna with sudden determined and intense eyes. The brunet abruptly looked at his tutor because of those eyes. Tsuna marvelled on how Reborn could still remain composed despite all this shocking news.

"Takeshi, the family's guardians haven't been confirmed as dead, right?" Reborn inquired. Adult Yamamoto gave a positive answer. That immediately made the time travelers shot a relieved look at the older man.

"Then there's only one thing to do." Reborn started. Tsuna looked at his tutor with hopeful eyes. "You need to gather the guardians who have been separated." Tsuna gulped nervously. That was a good idea. He couldn't refute that. But how?

"Gather the guardians?" Tsuna asked after a blink.

"There is a connection between our presence here and the fighting in this era." Reborn stated his theory with a sure voice. "To fight back against them, we have no choice but to gather the guardians."

"But what can we do with just seven people?" Tsuna asked, voice full of doubt. There was just no way they could win with seven people. Wait…Reborn said something earlier…something about-

"Don't say such a shameful thing." Reborn scolded. "In the long history of Vongola, there have been many crises, but each time, the bosses had overcome their difficulties with the six guardians who defend the sky."

"Got it, Tsuna?" Reborn asked. Tsuna took a breath, trying to quell down his own panic at his own thoughts, yet still failed when his voice rose.

"You said that the people we know are targets in the Vongola hunt as well. D-Does that include Mom and Kyoko-chan?"

Reborn didn't immediately answer, looking at the brunet with his eyes, as if saying that his suspicions were true. But…But! Adult Yamamoto took a step forward.

"The range of people the Millefiore go after keeps growing." Tsuna turned to look with a frightened look. "I'm afraid that they are targets too." Tsuna felt his heart skip a beat at those words. He let out a gasp, and his panic grew even more.

"T-That's horrible! W-What do we do, Reborn?" Tsuna turned to Reborn. He didn't want his mother and Kyoko to get hurt just because of the Mafia! Reborn jumped towards him and smacked his forehead. That action startled the brunet and he took a step back. "W-Wha-?"

"We've already made a move." Reborn informed helpfully. "When Takeshi went to meet Lal, I-pin and Lambo went looking for Kyoko and Haru." Tsuna's eyes widened in realization. In this time, I-pin and Lambo were not kids. Instead, they were reliable and strong enough to defend themselves. Still…

"And about Mama…" Reborn started. Tsuna detected hesitancy in that tone. "The timing was bad. She went on a vacation to Italy with Iemitsu and we're unable to determine their status."

Tsuna grew pale at that. _'No…'_

"I-Italy? Then…" he trailed off, suddenly remembering what Lal Mirch had said to them earlier that evening.

"Jyuudaime, she said that Vongola Headquarters has been annihilated." The brunet's breath hitched at that.

"They couldn't…Mom…" He looked at his tutor with a helpless and fearful expression.

"Our other allies, Bianchi and Fuuta, are out gathering information." Yamamoto added, trying to diffuse the sudden tense atmosphere, but it didn't stop Tsuna from thinking about the cruel information he just heard.

"Are they safe?" Gokudera immediately demanded.

"Most of the people we know in Namimori have been killed in the last two days." Yamamoto said in a morose tone that made Tsuna perk up his attention back to the conversation.

"Including Takeshi's old man." Reborn added gravely. Their eyes widened at that. Tsuna grew even paler by the second.

"That…can't..."

Later that night, as the brunet laid on his futon, he couldn't help but begged to any deity that his mother and Kyoko were safe and sound. He repeated these wishes again and again while stifling the sobs and sniffles that kept getting out as he gripped the charm Kyoko had given him. The brunet clutched on the charm with growing desperation. _'Please…Please…'_

" _You're late."_

" _Hug me~"_

" _I'm over here! My toes fit into the back of your head."_

" _I can't help it. Unless I wear this special suit, my body gets sick. And I had that barrier made for me too."_

" _It just means that it's a harsh world out there for me."_

" _I know that much. That's not the only odd thing."_

" _The time is off. We were shot by the 10 year bazooka, but only 9 years and 10 months have passed."_

" _Yeah. Even I have no idea why that happened."_

" _It's a good thing we weren't blown into a strange land though."_

" _You don't even know that?"_

" _Yamamoto, can you put it on a monitor?"_

" _That's right. And as long as you can't return to the past, this is your problem as well."_

" _You must have seen it too. The coffin with the Vongola mark."_

" _Stop it, Gokudera. You, ten years in the future, were in the same position."_

" _The enemy, the Millefiore Family, has an enormous fighting force and they are cold and cruel."_

" _That's not all. Every person you've been involved with is a target as well."_

" _Don't lose your head. All hope isn't lost. Yamamoto, even though they're separated, the family guardians haven't been confirmed as dead, right?"_

" _Then, there's only one thing to do. You need to gather the six guardians who have been separated."_

" _I'm certain there is a connection between our presence here and the fighting in this era. To fight against them, we have no choice but to gather the guardians."_

" _Don't say such a shameful thing. In the long history of Vongola, there have been many crises. But each time, the bosses have overcome these difficulties with the six guardians who defended their sky. Got it? So we're going to decide the order in which to gather the guardians. First-"_

" _We've already made a move."_

" _And about Mama…the timing was bad. She went on a vacation to Italy with Iemitsu, and we're unable to determine their status."_

" _Including Yamamoto's old man."_

"I can't do it." Tsuna slowly said after panting for breath as he looked worriedly at the ring on his clenched fist. He was currently kneeling on the floor, his finger wearing the Vongola ring.

"It'll be fine! You can do it, Jyuudaime!" Gokudera dutifully encouraged with a grin on his face. It made Tsuna look at his friend, feeling a bit happy that the silverette believed in him.

"Imagine your resolve," Yamamoto started dramatically with his hand. "Then tighten it up." Yamamoto contracted his hand as if grasping something invisible. "And it'll come out!" Yamamoto raised his hand and blue flames lit up from the rain guardian's ring.

"How is that supposed to make sense?" Gokudera replied heatedly, glaring at Yamamoto. Tsuna looked at his friends worriedly. The brunet still didn't understand how to make his ring light with his own flame. He frowned as Gokudera yelled and Yamamoto chuckled merrily. Tsuna sighed dejectedly. It was so easy for them. But if it was that simple then he needed to light up his ring so that he could grow stronger and everyone could get back to the past.

Tsuna clenched his fist just like what Yamamoto had demonstrated, but even when he thought of his resolve, his ring still wouldn't light up.

"Why?" Tsuna asked, upset. The brunet could feel himself growing frustrated at his failure. "Why am I the only one who can't?" Tsuna asked in a frustrated tone. It almost ended with an outburst as he clenched his fist tightly.

"Sawada." Tsuna heard his name being called out and he perked up. Lal Mirch walked towards them and he stared at her fearfully. "Are you really resolved?"

His eyes widened a bit at her serious question. The brunet looked down to his hand. "I do…" He clenched his fist as he stared at the ring on his hand. _'I really do…I really do want to get everyone to the past.'_ he thought with a hint of frustration. _'To do that, I need to become stronger than the Millefiore and take care of that Irie Shoichi person.'_ He continued with his eyes closed in concentration. _'That's why I'll do anything. I'll endure any kind of training…'_ He clenched his fist tighter, almost drawing blood as he furrowed his brow more. _'No matter what.'_

Tsuna opened his eyes again to find his Vongola ring still the same, no flame glowing out it.

"I still couldn't..." Tsuna gulped worriedly, wondering where he went wrong. His inability to light up his flames slowly made him desperate. It made him think that despite it all, he was still Dame-Tsuna.

"I'm all talk. I'm just Dame-Tsuna." Tsuna closed his eyes in frustration. The brunet could feel his heart clenching in pain. "I don't know what real resolve is." He added weakly, his breath hitched in his throat.

"Don't be-"

"Spoiled!" A squeaky voice interrupted Lal Mirch's growl and its owner kicked the brunet's chin. Tsuna gasped at the sudden pain, landing some distance away. His eyes widened and he slowly got up, watching his demon tutor slowly make his way towards him.

"It's my turn now. Stand back." Reborn said in a commanding tone. There was a worried frown on the brunet's face, wondering what his tutor would say to him.

"Reborn…" The hitman hopped onto his kneecap, making Tsuna look at him up close.

"Don't try to act so noble, Tsuna." Reborn looked up at Tsuna in the eyes. The brunet continued to look at his tutor. He felt compelled to continue looking into Reborn's sincere black orbs. They seemed to see everything yet nothing at the same time. "You don't need to be a hero."

' _Reborn…'_ Tsuna made a confused "Huh?"

"Returning everyone to the past? Endure the training to defeat the enemy?" Reborn was still looking at him in the eyes with so many emotions trying to be conveyed. Tsuna could see that determination was very prominent in his tutor's eyes. It actually made him feel exposed. "Such noble ideas don't really suit you." Reborn stated strongly. "Your feelings back then was much simpler."

"Back then…?" At his question Reborn gave a fond smile.

"When you first lit the ring, what did you want to do?"

"That's, I just…" Tsuna started in a low voice. "I just wanted to protect Kyoko-chan!" The brunet had a determined look on his face. Reborn smiled at him proudly.

"That's a good answer. Isn't there someone you want to protect, even now?" Reborn said. Tsuna got the feeling that his tutor already knew the answer. Tsuna's eyes widened a bit. Reborn was correct. There was someone he wanted to protect. The brunet's mind immediately flashed to the face of his tutor, who was looking at him with _those_ eyes.

"Of course there is." He gave his tutor a determined look, his eyes burning with emotion and his voice strong.

Tsuna closed his eyes and his mind flashed to Kyoko. He wanted to protect her. Haru, despite their rocky start, he also wanted to protect her. She came to be his friend. Lambo and I-pin, he wanted to protect the kids. He came to see them as his family. The brunet had grown fond of having breakfast with them along with his mother, despite it being rowdy to the point that the dinner always tended to make Lambo pull out his ten year bazooka and I-pin catching up to the afro child.

"I want to protect everyone." Tsuna said in pure certainty.

Tsuna's eyes flashed orange at that admission. And, as he said his resolve, bright powerful orange flames sprung from the brunet's ring, making him gasp in astonishment and awe. Tsuna stared at the flame with wide eyes and mouth agape. The brunet didn't notice his eyes were bleeding from orange back to caramel-brown. But Reborn did yet didn't point it out.

Tsuna continued staring at the bright flame on his ring. He couldn't help but let out a smile, looking at his tutor brightly. The glow of happiness on his student made Reborn smile back proudly. "I did it, Reborn!"

"That you did." Reborn answered smugly, as if he expected nothing less. There was also a proudness layered on the hitman's voice which made Tsuna feel warm. Reborn expected this from him. The tutor hopped onto Tsuna's head before patting his student's hair affectionately. Tsuna laughed at that action before looking up at his friends in joy.

"I finally did it, Gokudera, Yamamoto!"

In the back of his mind, new information would be stored. Despite looking at Tsuna so proudly and, dare he say it, hopefully, Reborn was still staring at the brunet with _those_ eyes that would later tear his heart apart.

" _-Spoiled!"_

" _It's my turn. Now, stand back."_

" _Don't try to act so noble, Tsuna. You're not capable of being a hero."_

" _Returning everyone to the past? Enduring training to defeat the enemy? Such noble ideas don't really suit you."_

" _Your feelings back then was much simpler."_

" _When you first lit the ring, what did you want to do?"_

" _That's a good answer."_

" _Isn't there someone you want to protect, even now?"_

" _Of course."_


	5. Chapter Four - Part Two

**Chapter Four: Part Two - End**

"So, the three of you are finally together." Reborn's familiar squeaky tone piped in and Tsuna turned to look at his tutor. He immediately saw the other standing next to his female tutor, Lal Mirch.

"As I told you, we're going to begin a special individual assault enhancement program." Lal Mirch suddenly said. The three boys looked at her with various expressions of confusion.

"Individual enhancement?" Tsuna voiced out his question, followed by Yamamoto.

"What do you mean by _assault_?"

"It's for when you attack the enemy." Reborn helpfully informed them. Tsuna turned to his tutor with a startled look on his face.

"A-Attack?!"

"Just like how Tsuna's been training one on one with Lal in the last ten days, we're going to have each one of you train with an individual tutor. It's the same thing we did during the Ring Conflict."

Tsuna eyes widened at that explanation, "Then, I'd get Reborn?"

Reborn made a side long glance at his student, making the boy shiver, then said in a slightly devious yet saddened tone, "Sadly, no."

The brunet inwardly sighed with relief at that. Reborn might be nice to him from time to time, but there were bad, _worse_ , times when Reborn's _training_ wasn't training at all; more like torturing him. The memory of Reborn actually breaking one of his ribs after kicking him without mercy during one of those so called training sessions was horrible and painful. Of course, Tsuna knew that it wasn't intended since Reborn had looked at him with _those_ eyes. The hitman remained silent when Tsuna accused him that his tutor had been a bit spartan. However, it didn't change the fact that Reborn had already sent him to the hospital. Who knew what Reborn would do to his student for this training?

The infant then looked at Yamamoto, "I'll be training Yamamoto instead."

Yamamoto immediately pointed at himself in confusion, "Me?"

Tsuna immediately looked gobsmacked when he heard who would be Reborn's _toy_. "What?" He stared at his sadistic tutor then at his baseball loving friend, "Reborn's going to train Yamamoto?! W-Will that even work?" Tsuna nervously asked as the thought of Reborn shooting Yamamoto with guns. The brunet didn't think that Yamamoto could leave Reborn's training without being hurt rather painfully. Yamamoto was still laughing and saying how fun this all seemed.

"Take it easy on me." Yamamoto said merrily.

That made Tsuna sweat drop. Reborn would do exactly the opposite. This was starting to look like a bad idea, even more so when they learned that Bianchi was Gokudera's tutor. The bomber paled rather drastically at the mere sight of his sister.

 _A really bad idea._ His friends were in great potential danger from their respective tutors, Tsuna concluded.

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna looked worriedly at his friend, who was shaking, kneeling on the floor. "Reborn, there's no way! You'd better cancel this!" Tsuna exclaimed apprehensively.

How could Gokudera train when the sight of his sister made him sick?

What would Reborn do to Yamamoto on their training? He still thought that, somehow, Reborn wouldn't be too hard on Yamamoto since he called older Yamamoto by _Takeshi_. It should mean that Reborn had grown fond of the baseball lover. Tsuna was jealous. Reborn had grown fond of someone else, though that thought was a bit sketchy since he couldn't read Reborn that well.

"You should concentrate on your own training." Reborn said, then it ended with a bang.

Flames burst on Tsuna's forehead and palms, his caramel-brown eyes turned orange as the brunet jumped from his current position and into a fighting stance in front of Lal Mirch.

"Let's start, Lal Mirch." He started seriously, his eyes blazing with determination.

"No, I'm putting an end to your training." she said suddenly. "You haven't reached the level I expected. I've determined that you won't be able to level-up in a short amount of time."

"But I've gotten this far." Tsuna countered stubbornly.

Tsuna's eyes widened when an attack was headed in his direction. He automatically flew upward. The cloud flames emerging from a box weapon followed him even after he flew. As he landed on his feet against the wall, he reached both of his palms deflect the attack of the cloud flames.

"If you lose focus, you'll die." Tsuna heard the familiar older voice and he made a side-long startled glance at that direction.

"You're…" Tsuna immediately saw adult Hibari, wearing the same suit the first time the brunet saw him near the Namimori Shrine: clean black suit, pants, and shoes, purple dress shirt and a black necktie.

"I'm going to pry your abilities open." Adult Hibari said with a certain promise of danger in his eyes.

Tsuna gritted his teeth as he felt the box weapon push him back. It made his eyes widen a bit when he could feel the strain already taking effect for merely defending.

' _I don't want to lose_.' Tsuna thought determinedly as he pushed back with as much sky flames he could produce and slowly but surely noticed that Hibari's hedgehog was being pushed back. This was a start. He could win.

"As I had heard from the infant, you're nothing like the man that I know, who was older by ten years." Adult Hibari said and it made Tsuna grit his teeth in frustration. The brunet actually thought that he was doing great, but now that Hibari had pointed that little fact out, it frustrated him. It only made him refute that statement and make Adult Hibari see that he could still get stronger.

The brunet closed his eyes as he prepared for his attack. He concentrated on his flames, thinking and wanting to get his own equilibrium. When Tsuna opened his eyes, it returned back to its original caramel-brown color as he prepared for his Zero point breakthrough. Tsuna's flames became frost, and he concentrated even more to seal the box weapon in front of him. If he managed to seal the box weapon Tsuna thought it would be enough for him to win.

Tsuna's eyes widened when something rapidly surrounded him and he immediately set to freeze the purple flames from doing anything harmful. Tsuna knew instinctively he had to do something. He shifted on his attack and sealed what he could, but the purple cloud kept multiplying and at an alarmingly fast rate. Tsuna didn't have time to think of how it could multiply so fast. _'They're too fast.'_ He looked worriedly at it and continued freezing what he could, despite realizing the difference in speed. _'I can't keep up!'_

Tsuna's eyes widened in alarm when the purple clouds were about to enclose him. He tried to get away, but he was too late. By the next second, he was trapped inside the sphere of thick purple flames.

He couldn't see anything after that.

Tsuna reached for anything, slightly glad that he had his flames to light the place but he would prefer to be freed. _'This is no good.'_ He frowned after he lit his flames against the purple cloud sphere. He instinctively knew that his flames wouldn't work. The armour was strong. _'I can't do anything to it.'_ Tsuna thought helplessly.

"The amount of oxygen is limited inside the isolated area. If you don't escape soon," Tsuna heard adult Hibari's voice coming from the other side, "You'll die." The brunet's eyes widened at that revelation.

Tsuna slightly panicked and he immediately used his body against the wall surrounding him. However, he eventually grew tired of doing that. Tsuna panted. _'What should I do...?'_ He gripped his knees tighter. Tsuna could feel that he was growing weaker by the second.

He took a deep breath before attacking with his flames on both sides simultaneously, his eyes full of determination. He kept at it for a few seconds then repeated.

Tsuna didn't know what to do, but he wanted to escape from this prison.

Eventually, Tsuna grew exhausted that he was almost ready to sit down. The brunet could feel his knees growing weak. He took a large amount of air but he was still exhausted. Tsuna knew he couldn't last any longer so, in one last attempt, he willed himself for his next blow, hoping that this time, he would succeed.

' _It's do or die.'_ He slowly sat up, willing his already exhausted knees to move. He readied himself with his eyes closed, concentrating his flames, visualizing his resolve more so in this situation. Tsuna needed stronger flames. He needed to concentrate his most powerful flame into a single point.

As he opened his eyes, he directed his attack to the single point in front of him until he couldn't produce any more flames and he fell to his knees. _'It's not even budging…'_ He thought exhaustedly. Tsuna lifted his head, feeling the melted portion on the armor after his last attack. It brought him a sense of victory, even for a tiny bit.

The brunet realized that it came from the flames around his ring. Tsuna concluded that its weakness would be a higher grade of flame. If he could produce a giant flame, that would be good enough to break through the sphere, but he was lacking in oxygen already. He couldn't produce anymore strong flames.

Tsuna breathed more deeply. _'This is bad…'_

Tsuna could feel his weak body fade with the losing air to breath. Though he remained sitting, he didn't want to die here.

The brunet stared right ahead where he knew the melted portion of the armour was. Tsuna slowly stood up, only to fall with a thud when the flames on his forehead totally diminished, leaving him at the mercy of the darkness.

' _Isn't my resolve enough?'_ he questioned through his exhausted-muddled mind.

Tsuna forced himself to look at his ring after pulling the mitten on his right hand, wondering if his resolve wasn't enough to produce stronger flames. If he could produce stronger flames, then he could get out.

' _What more…do you want from me?'_ he asked exhaustedly while staring at the ring Reborn forced him to wear on his hand when he went into Hyper Dying Will Mode.

Slowly, he closed his eyes in exhaustion, only to open them again when a bright light emitted from the ring. Tsuna lifted his head and noticed that the bright light was directed to the middle of his forehead. _'Huh?'_

Tsuna's eyes widened when he began hearing voices inside his head.

_("Do it! Do it! Do it!")_

Images started flashing inside his head, accompanied by…despairing voices.

_("Just spare my life! If I die, my kid…my wife…" a man's voice yelled in desperation. It was followed by the sound of gunshot.)_

The brunet's eyes widened further in growing horror at what he was seeing and hearing. _'What…What is this?'_ Tsuna grew pale. _'These images are flowing directly inside my head!'_

_(Screaming voices of men and women. Fire spreading and more gunshots that couldn't be counted. A gruff voice of a man, yelling to other men in war cry, "Get revenge!")_

_("Get them!" someone yelled, followed by a large explosion. There was the crying sound of a child yelling for help and then another explosion.)_

_("Wipe them out!" a man yelled, standing in front of many other suited men. Then that same man who yelled shot another man. There was an unintelligible cry and a bang before more gunshots.)_

' _What…?'_ He gulped down and found his throat dry. There was a sudden uncomfortable feeling in his stomach, making it churn. _'What is this?'_ he thought questioningly and despairingly.

_("These are the sins of the Vongola." a sudden voice said.)_

Before him, men appeared with masks covering their eyes in flames, the same sky flames he had.

_("Murder. Revenge. Betrayal. The endless pursuit of political power. The history of the Vongola Mafia." the first man who appeared said in his gruff and deep voice.)_

_("One who holds Vongola's Sky Ring, do you have the resolution?" the second man said. His voice wasn't deep, but it still had that same tone of demand.)_

Tsuna turned to look at the second man he could see, face set in confusion.

_("The determination to inherit these sins?" another man asked in clarification.)_

Tsuna stared, aghast, his face pale at what he was seeing. This…This…

_("Save me!" a man screamed hoarsely and another man then shot the first man on the temple at close distance. The same men who killed the screaming man kept killing people around him with dark mania in his eyes._

" _Give me back my husband!" a woman cried in despair, but she was shot to her own death.)_

Tsuna opened his mouth to take a deep breath, but it was stuck in his throat. He couldn't calm down.

_(Bodies piled on the floor. There was blood on the wall. Two men were standing before the dead bodies, holding a gun. There was fire the next and dead bodies being burnt like a waste of space.)_

Tsuna gritted his teeth, tears forming in his eyes and spilling on his pale cheeks like a broken dam. He clenched his fist tightly as he continued seeing different cruelties, of men being stripped of their freedom, of women begging for their children and husband to be spared, of explosions that took mansions and of countless lives.

He didn't want to see this. Tsuna didn't…This…This _is_ too cruel!

Tsuna gripped his hair, pressing his fingernails against his scalp. Tsuna's thoughts were but one thing: he didn't want to see anymore.

His breathing hitched as he continued seeing events in his mind, hearing horror-like voices of despair that made his ears ring loudly with voices of desperation, anguish and of so much more.

_("These are the sins carried by the Vongola. This is the Vongola's history.")_

Tsuna heard those words, but he couldn't focus on it due to the ringing in his ears. He didn't want to hear nor see any of this cruelty!

He gasped inaudibly, he couldn't hear that his heart was beating so fast on his chest, couldn't hear that he was sobbing and sniffling like a child. All he could do was see the images of cruelty and hear the anguished voices of many fallen men. No. _No!_

_("Do not avert your eyes from the truth. Accept the truth. You had better have the resolution. You'd best have the determination to inherit these sins!")_

Tsuna began panting. He was almost convulsing at how irregular his breathing was.

"No…" He closed his eyes, hoping not to see anymore. Tsuna's grip on his hair got tighter. "Stop…"

"Stop it!" he screamed, his stomach feeling so revolted at the sinful visions. Tsuna curled to himself. His tears kept falling like there was no end. He clutched his hair like a lifeline. "Stop…"

"Please, stop it…!" he yelled as the images of men killing each other played in his mind.

_("Do not avert your eyes. This is the fate of those who succeed the Vongola. This is the very reason that you have life.")_

Tsuna started shaking, sobbing miserably.

_("NO!" a teenager screamed. The adolescent was running towards his father. The teenager's father was crawling to the wall as countless men walked towards him, guns pointed at him menacingly. "Father!" The teenager was silenced with a bang._

" _No!" the father yelled in horror.)_

Tsuna curled into himself even more, shaking his head. "No…" He sniffed due to the clog on his nose. "I can't do these terrible things!"

_("You cannot attain power without paying the proper price. If you want great power, you must have the resolve to succeed this great history.")_

Tsuna slowly lifted his tear-streaked face and mumbled weakly in a depreciating manner, "Great history?" He sniffed rather loudly in growing disgust. "That's what you call this?"

_(There was another scream. "Save me!")_

Tsuna's eyes widened at what he heard and he closed his eyes shut in an attempt to block the voices and the images again. "I…"

"I don't want the power to do this!" Tsuna said determinedly. He wanted to be strong to protect everyone but…this kind of power…Tsuna didn't want it. However, he needed power to protect everyone…"Everyone…"

_("Don't try to act so noble, Tsuna.")_

Tsuna's eyes slowly opened. _'Reborn…'_

_("You don't need to be a hero."_

" _Returning everyone to the past? Endure the training to defeat the enemy?"_

" _Such noble ideas don't suit you.")_

Tsuna closed his eyes, willing and forcing himself not to see or hear the tormenting voices of the dead and focused more on Reborn's voice.

_("Isn't there someone you want to protect, even now?")_

_("I want to protect everyone!")_

Tsuna opened his eyes, staring downward, "I thought I could do anything to protect everyone." He closed his eyes, "But I…" He took a deep breath and stared at the men before him with determined blazing eyes. "I don't want this kind of power!" They were taken aback by his sudden outburst, disbelieving that someone like him didn't want the power being offered.

"If you're going to make me succeed all of these sins," He bowed down his head and then lifted to look at them with defiant eyes, "Then I'll destroy the Vongola!" Tsuna yelled with strong emotion that came from the bottom of his heart.

Seconds later, Tsuna felt his exhausted body fall downward, _'Sorry…everyone.'_ he said internally, thinking that this would be his last thought, only for someone to catch him. The brunet snapped his eyes open.

"Kyuudaime!" Tsuna gasped in shock, face to face with his kind grandfather. The old man stood after helping him and walked away. That was when Tsuna noticed that he was somewhere bright, several men lined up on his left and right sides. In the center was the insignia of the Vongola Family that Reborn had drilled over his head.

One by one, those men lifted their weapons, and lit it up their sky flames. Tsuna looked at them with confusion in his eyes. He didn't know where he was or what he was doing here. What he did know was that he was supposed to be lying down in a dark secluded place.

However, Tsuna didn't ask any questions. He remained in his kneeling position, even when the person who was sitting on a very grand chair stood up and lit his flames, the embers coating his glove-covered hand. Tsuna saw a resemblance on that person and he came to question…just who was this person standing in front of him, looking so cool with his suit and over flowing black mantel?

"I accept your determination." Tsuna looked at the other person with blond hair and orange eyes.

Later, Tsuna would look back at that situation inside the thick sphere and think that it was thanks to Reborn's words that he managed to get back on his feet and strengthen his resolve even more. Though he wondered what Primo meant when he answered about time and why Kyuudaime also appeared.

" _So the three of you are finally together."_

" _It's for when you attack the enemy."_

" _Just like how Tsuna's been training one on one with Lal Mirch in the last ten days, we're going to have each one of you train with an individual tutor."_

" _No, I'll be training Yamamoto."_

" _You should concentrate on your own training."_

"Details will be given in ten days. I won't be moving during that, so rest properly." Hologram Byakuran happily informed. Tsuna could only clench his fist at this sudden turnabout.

"Stop this useless talk." Reborn started. There was a hard quality to it, making Tsuna turn to his tutor a bit curiously. "To see such a _monster._ " Reborn partially growled the last word in anger.

Tsuna's eyes widened. It made him wonder where this sudden anger was coming from. Tsuna disliked Byakuran. Because of him, his friends were hurt, but Tsuna knew his tutor. His tutor just _didn't_ hate anyone. Dislike, yes, but this…Tsuna could only describe this anger as hate, not a mere dislike or even annoyance.

"How could _we_ properly rest?" the hitman added. Tsuna was taken aback at the emotion in Reborn's eyes.

"Reborn…" he unconsciously called out in a small voice.

"Oh?" Hologram Byakuran paused and looked at the tutor with an amused expression on his face, and then a contemplating look. "The Arcobaleno, Reborn?" Byakuran eyed his tutor a bit longer before humming under his throat. The white haired man sounded like he just thought of something. Tsuna automatically became wary. Despite not showing an ounce of sign, Tsuna felt that Reborn was wary as well.

"There's something peculiar about you, Arcobaleno Reborn." Byakuran slowly said. "It's probably just me," he added with a shrug, and then continued, "But you were slightly different from them…"

Tsuna's confusion grew at that, "What do you mean by that?"

Byakuran turned to look at him then added, his voice mocking, "Well, Tsunayoshi-kun, even if I do explain you still wouldn't understand." That insult made him bristle. If Byakuran's snickering was any indication, he found his reaction entertaining.

"Reborn," Byakuran called out to the tutor casually, giving the hitman a grin. Tsuna automatically cringed. There was a sudden gut feeling about Byakuran that made him not feel so good. "Is it because I'm the reason the Tsunayoshi Sawada of this era died?" Byakuran's smile became mischievous. Tsuna felt anger at that, so did the others, but the brunet focused more on Reborn's response.

What Tsuna saw made him clenched his fist. Reborn was looking at Byakuran with his default cool expression, but his tutor's eyes told a different story. It saddened him to see such vulnerable emotions in his tutor's eyes.

Byakuran chuckled as if he saw the answer to a difficult riddle. Then he started laughing louder, "Jackpot."

A feeling of protectiveness rose from within him and Tsuna immediately acted on it.

"Byakuran!" Tsuna yelled angrily. "Stop making fun of us!" He almost growled at the end. Tsuna's eyes were blazing with emotions.

"Tsuna." Reborn called out to calm him down, but Tsuna promptly ignored it, continuing to glare at the white haired enemy.

Byakuran continued laughing in hilarity. Tsuna seemed ready to fight even without his flames backing him up as he promptly forgot that the Byakuran in front of them was merely a hologram. Eventually Byakuran stopped laughing and turned to look at Tsuna with amused eyes.

"I am merely stating a fact." he commented. Tsuna glared harder at Byakuran. The white haired man made a sidelong glance at Reborn. There was a exchange between them before the Millefiore boss turned back to the rest of the group again. "Anyway, time's almost up." Byakuran said with a clap. "I would like to talk to you more, but alas, I must cut this conversation short."

Byakuran informed them that the melone base was going to disappear. Later, they would arrive at their own base, exhausted and ready to pass out, but the words Byakuran had uttered and Reborn's eyes never left the brunet until he fell asleep.

" _Stop this useless talk. To see such a monster, how could we rest properly?"_

"The ones who'll defeat you aren't the Arcobaleno. It'll be _my student_ …Tsuna."

Reborn's voice suddenly permitted through Tsuna's ears and made his unconscious mind jerk up to start working.

' _Re…born…'_ Just what would his tutor say if the brunet remained unresponsive?

_("Dame-Tsuna, get up or I'll shoot that thick skull of yours.")_

That voice, that sudden memory, immediately brought something like panic at the pit of Tsuna's stomach. Slowly, but determinedly, the clog on his mind had slowly disappeared. It made him think a bit more clearly than earlier, but it still felt like his thoughts would slip through his hands like sand.

' _I…'_ Tsuna slowly started.

"Tsuna," At the call of his name, Tsuna's mind struggled to keep in control, wanting to hear what would be said to him. Hopefully, Reborn wouldn't say something about how no-good he was.

"You've got no choice, but to defeat Byakuran." Reborn said with a strong voice. It made Tsuna abruptly stop his mind from thinking. Reborn, his tutor, had such a strong conviction for him, yet the voice had more emotion than that.

However, that faith made the brunet want to meet that expectation, even when the feeling of numbness had started coursing on his body as if coaxing him to sleep.

Reborn wouldn't allow him to fall like this.

' _I…can't die...'_ Tsuna's fingertip twitched. His tutor would kick him if he stayed down like this. Then Reborn would yell at him about how dame he was for not having the Dying Will to get up and being too weak to protect a single girl from the enemy.

' _I can't…die. Not like this!'_ Tsuna repeated strongly and clearly. It lit the burning passion in his heart. Tsuna's hand twitched again in activity, and then he coughed out blood. With that single action, the numbness coursing through his body disappeared and was replaced with pain, especially around his throat. It made him cough even more.

_("I want to protect everyone!")_

"I…" Tsuna hoarsely started. The action of speaking even made his throat yearn for water, pain radiating from his body.

"…won't…" Tsuna slowly willed his body to move, silently encouraging himself that this pain wasn't as bad as Reborn's physical tendency to hurt him. The brunet slowly gazed up, lifted his body so that he was almost crawling on his elbows and arms.

"Hand Yuni…" He looked at his enemy. At the mere sight of Byakuran, Tsuna's body unconsciously shivered, but he still persisted to say his words, his resolve.

"Over…to you!" He almost screamed by the end, but his sore throat prevented him and it made him cough again.

Byakuran laughed and looked at him in amusement, "You're quivering! The body is so honest, don't you think? Yours remembers the fear of being beaten hollow."

Tsuna's resolve slowly weakened and his exhaustion strengthened when Byakuran pointed that out. He couldn't refute Byakuran's statement. It was true and it made him feel infuriated at his own weakness. Byakuran snickered this time.

"Your quivering is almost contagious." Tsuna noted that it was sarcasm. It made him shiver once again.

He continued kneeling like that, trying not to get up, not that he wouldn't but couldn't.

"How unlucky of you to wake up in a situation like this." Byakuran said almost sympathetically. Tsuna never believed that it was genuine. "But then again, I suppose since your middle school years, you've been unlucky." Tsuna could only stay in position.

"I know quite a lot about you." Byakuran remarked. "Not too long ago, you were merely a failure of a student who skipped school, and then a hitman came along and told you that you were a candidate to become the boss of a huge Mafia group, which threw you into this scary world."

"Since then, despite hating conflicts, you've been forced to fight for the title of boss. Your biggest misfortune, however…is that you came to this generation." Byakuran laughed mockingly.

Tsuna knew that Byakuran had a point, but it was still…wrong.

"If you hadn't been brought here, you wouldn't have had to go through all this. Didn't you curse your own fate? Right?" Byakuran questioned, but it was poised as a statement. Byakuran thought the brunet would agree with that, but Tsuna shook his head, clenching his fist against his kneecap.

"No…" Tsuna started, peering at Byakuran with an exhausted look on his face, but the burning in his eyes stood out.

"That's not exactly…true."

Byakuran stopped and looked at the brunet with questioning eyes.

"Well…" Tsuna started. He looked at the ground, yet he didn't unclench his fist. "The future is scary…and painful…and full of uncertainties." His mind went back to when he first came to be in this era and learned that everyone was in great danger. It was scary and painful. There were times when he grew uncertain of his decision, if it was really necessary to fight Byakuran when it was obvious that they didn't completely belong in this era, and if he made the right decision for his friends.

"There's been very few times where I've felt happy since coming here…" Knowing that everyone was safe and sound made Tsuna happy. The fun they had in this era, despite the war that was going on. The party they had, despite the dangerous and serious time.

"But…I feel as though I understand all that now…" He clenched his fist tighter. "It's not about what's good or bad…" Tsuna bit his lip willing himself to continue without coughing, to say what he really felt.

"Everything that happens here…is a precious part of my life." He looked up with determined eyes at Byakuran. The Millefiore boss looked thoughtful.

"You sure have an odd way of perceiving things. But I want you to think carefully. If you die, that'll only be a way to comfort yourself." Byakuran's right hand started gathering flames for an attack. Tsuna forced himself to stand up so he may counter or even dodge, coughing out blood in the process.

Gokudera yelled a vehement disagreement. "No!"

Tsuna was surprised that Byakuran actually stopped. The white haired man hummed to himself before the white dragon that was about to form in his hand dispersed and disappeared. "You're right. In his state…" Byakuran paused for dramatic effect, his face almost genuinely apologetic but everyone knew it wasn't. "A mini white dragon through his heart should be enough." In Byakuran's hand, a spear-like form of the dragon appeared. It made Tsuna's eyes widened in shock.

"W-Wait!"

"Don't wanna." Byakuran childishly denied with a sing sang tone. Next thing Tsuna knew, something pierced his heart, making him gasp. Pain coursed through his body. With that, Tsuna felt his body fall in slow motion, eyes wide with shocked and sudden realization that he was stabbed with a spear. Tsuna slowly let his gaze fall to the spear sticking through his chest.

"Tsuna!" the familiar squeaky voice yelled. It was unlike everything he had _ever_ heard coming from his tutor that he unconsciously looked and searched for where it was coming from. Tsuna realized that the voice was filled with anguish and those eyes were so _vulnerable_.

An immeasurable hot burning pain coursed through his body and Tsuna finally fell to the ground with a thud. Tsuna's eyes found his tutor's and then it was gone. The brunet's eyes were wide open and directed at his tutor, who was looking at him with pale complexion as _his student_ eyes became dull and slowly lost its shine.

Reborn unconsciously reached out his small chubby hand as if to desperately grasp something that had slipped through him. Reborn's mouth was open and he gasped out a silent one word that made this reality sink through him, "No."

 _His student_ was claimed by the darkness, once more.

" _The ones who'll defeat you aren't the Arcobaleno. It'll be my student…Tsuna."_

" _Tsuna, you've got no choice but to defeat Byakuran."_

And just like always, what Reborn saw next made him stare at his dame student with desperation and anguish on his face. They were so _close_ to defeating Byakuran!

"Ciaossu!"

Reborn felt his mouth open to utter that same old wordto the brunet, who was sitting up from falling down the stairs. Tsuna looked at him with wide, confused and unknowing eyes. It made him see how trusting this naïve little boy looked at him, a stranger in his home, a hitman, without any distrust, and how Tsuna wore his heart in his sleeve.

"So you're Tsuna?" the tutor asked softly and painfully. He already knew the answer to that rhetorical question, but this was his line. The hitman watched his dame student nodd with a dumb blink, and then ask who he was, sitting down to reach his level with legs crossed. Reborn automatically replied with his originally sixth line, but now third line.

"I'm the home tutor, Reborn." He pulled a business card from inside his dress shirt.

Tsuna blinked at him. Reborn already knew what would happen next. Tsuna would laugh in hilarity and he would respond by kicking the said laughing boy on his head, though the last few repeats made him cringe rather than pleased, but it needed to be done.

What he didn't expect was for Tsuna, _his dear student_ , to reach towards him. The brunet softly and worriedly asked, caramel-brown eyes peering at him with concern, "Are…you alright?"

That wasn't part of the script. Tsuna would never say that in the first act of the play.

As if the mere action wasn't already strange, Tsuna's eyes widened in panic upon asking a weird question and he immediately pulled back, gesturing animatedly with his arms and burning humiliation. "Ah! I mean! I-I…Well, you see, I actually didn't-! I mean…"

A small unnoticeable smile graced Reborn's face as he kicked his dear student in the chin after that garble of incoherent excuses. That action wasn't part of the script, but he had the sudden urge to disrupt that pattern to get a better result.

Reborn thought fondly that, perhaps, _this time_ he would get this right.

And wrong he was as he watched his dear student fall to the pavement with a thud and no sky flames burst on his student's forehead.

Reborn then realized that Tsuna had died when he had been shot with the Dying Will Bullet. It only hit home when, a second later, his mouth had moved to state that accursed word that had started his own _hell_ and noticed that he was back in time, starting all over again.

"Ciaossu!"

_**End** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** and here is the answer on why chapter 1 to chapter 3 was a cliffhanger, because this story is written in Tsuna's POV. Tsuna couldn't possibly know what would happen when he dies. The part where Tsuna dies wasn't clear because his death was so sudden he didn't want to think the word dying or death or die. Why I write the dialogue in the center was for difference between the original dialogue and on that's life dialogue of Reborn.
> 
> Those dialogues on the middle came from the original timeline where Tsuna first died against Byakuran and Chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4 was another timeline repeat with few changes because Reborn knew and despite reacting and saying almost the same thing Tsuna with his hyper intuition would instinctively felt something is wrong. Basically, Reborn's action causes Tsuna's decision it was like a butterfly effect because Reborn had the knowledge of what to come. Despite trying not to change anything too drastic Reborn couldnt and it showed on his lines and actions. (You could say that the canon timeline in the khr manga is the original timeline but Tsuna died after being choked by Byakuran.)
> 
> Thank you for reading **Fractured Paths**

**Author's Note:**

> **Kindly leave a comment and kudos.**


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